


Featherlight

by thingsishouldntbedoing - discontinued (arminoni)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, F/M, M/M, Wingfic, hey look i wrote another thing, more nonnies, there's a ton of plot here wtf happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-11
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 07:48:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/963407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arminoni/pseuds/thingsishouldntbedoing%20-%20discontinued
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An entire race distilled into nightmare fuel. Humanity had been at war with them perhaps since they had discovered each other. The attempted eradication of the Avians led to a revolt that shattered families and entire cities. Now, after 100 years of human peace, the Avians have begun to fight once again. But why? What does this boy have to do with it all? [WingFic]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Whoa man I meant for this to be a short oneshot fluffy wingfic and now it's become a multichapter fic with way more complicated stuff and I meant for it to have. Enjoy, the next chapter will be out Friday!
> 
> This first chapter is a little choppy, I may go back and edit it just a tad but I'll let you all know.

The cart trundled along beneath him and he pulled the beautiful velvet cloak around his shoulders. He traced the whorls of gold on the deep green fabric absently as the gates to the city opened. _This is it._

_Humanity had been at war with them perhaps since they had discovered each other. The attempted eradication of the Avians, called ‘abominations’ by those humans who saw them as threats, led to a revolt by the winged beasts. ‘Harpies’ and ‘monsters’ they may have been but they fought back. Hard._

_This led to the current arrangement: humans had packed themselves into city-states with high walls that would allow them to counterattack if the Avians returned, shooting them out of the sky. Avians had retreated to the high mountains and shorelines, making their roost high above the land where the humans couldn’t reach._

_But honestly, very little was known about them. It was said that they had beaks on their faces that could rip through flesh and wings made of bone that flew them through the air. Sometimes parents would tell their children horror stories about how the Avians would swoop down at night and take naughty children away and use them for stew._

_**An entire race distilled into nightmare fuel.**_

The city was rather beautiful with ivy growing on the stone walls of the buildings, the crimson roof tiles wept in the rain when they were fresh and left trickles of red staining the stucco facades. It gave them an eerie tearstained look as they loomed over the street below and it unsettled him. He just wanted to be back in his eyrie, cuddled against the rich fabrics of his bed. 

Eren clutched the velvet harder, nails digging into the fabric. _What are they going to do with me?_ He wondered, glancing up and catching the eye of the driver before hurriedly huddling back under his cloak. _I’m scared._

\--- 

The castle Utgard was just as stunning as the paintings he had seen. He knew it had been an Avian building for he could see the eyries high in the towers, long forgotten now he was sure. The chains around his limbs jingled as he stepped out of the cart with help from the driver and he swallowed. _Am I walking to my death?_ He hung his head beneath the curious stares of the humans. The driver gripped his jaw and lifted his head, placing an intricate mask over his eyes and nose. “Don’t touch it.” He growled and Eren dropped his head again. 

“Right this way,” Oruo greeted them at the door. He looked uncertain as the two men jerked the chains binding their capture. “They’re eating dinner.” Eren had to wonder who they were. The ones who were going to kill him? Torture him for all he knew? The mask was growing hot on his face, breathing restricted through the long tube on his nose. What was this thing? Some sort of torture device? He wrinkled his nose. 

“What’s all this?” Erwin asked as the men were led in, rising from his seat. Eren could see the high table from where he was; the man who had risen sat in the middle at the place of honor and to his right sat a petite man with cold, bored eyes. He got the feeling that this man was the one he should fear and looked away towards the ground as he shuffled into the room. 

“We bring a gift to humanity’s strongest!” The driver announced. 

“Well what is it?” The cruel man asked, his voice was deeper than Eren had expected from such a small frame and it surprised him. 

“This.” The second man, the quieter of the two, jerked the emerald cloak from around Eren’s shoulders and exposed him. 

The mask he wore was intricate, onyx laden with gold and silver details, stretching up and over the top of his head and into the messy brown mop there. It gave him the appearance of a carrion bird, turquoise eyes shining defiantly as he thrust his head up and shoulders back. He wore soft linen pants and wrapped boots beneath what seemed to be a stunning, embroidered tunic with an open cowl sagging down beneath his shoulder blades. The reason for this cowl wasn’t hard to discern as he fluttered his wings, bound tightly by cloth strips and chains. 

_Oh his wings_ , Levi had never seen anything like them. In all his years of fighting the Avians. They were white at the base shifting fluidly to pale, seafoam green and on down to emerald green tips and when they fluttered, straining against his bindings, colors burst through his feathers in the shifting firelight. 

"You can do what you want to me! I won't tell you a th--" a knee met his stomach and he doubled over. 

"Shut up, abomination," one of the men snarled and Eren glared from beneath his mask. 

"Feel like a big man do you?" The one they called 'humanity's strongest' rose from his seat. "Hitting a prisoner while he's tied." He walked over and the men shrunk back. "If you're really planning on doing it," he caught Eren's hair tightly in his hand and jerked his head back. "Strike hard, right here." His fingers touched the Avian's Adam's apple, making him swallow. 

The man who had hit him stuttered, shaking his head. "N-No sir." 

"Why not? Don't you enjoy it? Do I have to do it myself?" He purred and Eren glared at the side of his face, too far away and held too tightly to headbutt him. "Pathetic," he tossed Eren to the ground. "Ackerman, Petra get him out of here. As for you two..." He turned to the captors as two women caught Eren and guided him off, "I'll have your heads for bringing him here expecting a show." He saw Hanji slip out of the room and scowled. "I won't kill bound prisoners." Several soldiers grabbed them as they pleaded for mercy. "Get them out of my sight." He snapped and turned away. 

\--- 

"Don't be afraid of us, we won't hurt you," the blonde's voice was soft and warm like honey. She looked at him with a gentle gaze, not the hatred he had expected. "We're just going to get you out of these chains, if you promise not to run." 

He glared at them even as they led him into a cell and shut the door. The one called Ackerman was quietly watching him, patiently waiting for him to calm down. "May I touch your feathers?" She asked finally and he looked away. 

"Mikasa help me get these chains off," Petra told her as she reached for the bindings. "Hey!" He jerked away from her and huddled into the corner of the room. "We're only trying to help," she told him motheringly as he nestled his face against his knees, the long beak of the mask sticking out above them. 

“Go away,” he muttered and Mikasa sat down on the bed, folding her hands on her lap. “Just leave me alone.” 

“We will if you let us take the chains off,” Petra wheedled and crouched next to him. “I promise we’re not going to do anything to you.” 

“Leave.” He turned his back to them and Petra sighed. 

“There’s no point Mikasa just leave him alone,” she walked to the cell door. 

“I’ll just stay here,” she replied. “Keep an eye on him.” She didn’t want to take her eyes off him. 

“Okay, if you say so,” she shut the door behind her and walked off, glancing once more to check on them. _He doesn’t seem particularly violent, what’s the Captain going to do with him?_

Mikasa checked to make sure she was gone and rose, walking over and catching his chains in her hand. “Don’t move or it’ll hurt.” She clipped the iron rings and let them slip down around him. 

“I said LEAVE ME ALONE!” He struck out at her and she caught his hand. Her touch was stronger than he had expected but gentle enough that he looked into her grey eyes. There was kindness there, a gentility that he hadn’t seen from a human before. _Why isn’t she afraid of me?_ He let her peel his mask off and set it aside. 

“There isn’t that better?” She asked softly and tugged his legs to cut those bindings as well. She moved slowly, carefully, as if she didn’t want to frighten him. “Don’t be afraid of these people okay?” She cut through the binding on one wing and ducked her head when it expanded out after resisting the tension of the bands. “They won’t hurt you.” 

“Why are you doing this?” Eren asked as she freed his other wing. 

“An Avian boy once saved my life. I’m repaying the favor.” She said simply and rose. 

_This place keeps getting stranger and stranger._ Eren thought as he watched her go, nestling down onto the cold floor. 

\--- 

“HEY!” The cage bars rattled and Eren jolted awake, when had he fallen asleep? “Finally you’re awake, shitty brat.” That voice. His head wove around to look and then he cradled his wing in front of his face. This guy. 

“I didn’t give you permission to go back to sleep! Get your ass up.” Levi demanded. “Or don’t you want to eat?” He banged something against the bars and Eren lifted his head. “Thought that’d get your attention.” 

“Oooh look at him~” A woman said from Levi’s elbow, bobbing on the balls of her feet. “He’s like a sleepy eagle.” 

“Quit fawning, get over here brat and get your food,” the dark haired man snapped his fingers. “I don’t have all day.” 

“Hff--” Eren turned his back again and Levi frowned. 

“Fine.” He dropped the bowl on the ground and Hanji cried out. 

“He’s just a scared wittle baby~ Be nice to him,” she jumped as Eren charged the cage bars, wings outspread. 

“I’M NOT A BABY!” He shook the bars angrily, rage in his eyes. 

“Well that got a rise out of him,” Levi’s eyes glittered. “You’re a fledgling at best, getting caught by those two poachers.” 

“Shut up! Let me out of here!” He rattled the bars again. 

A hand grabbed his throat. “Don’t you tell me what to do, brat. I decide your fate.” This close Eren could see the grey-blue of his irises, like a waterfall at daybreak. _I can’t see any killing intent._ He thought as he searched them, swallowing against the crook of his thumb. “Damn it don’t look at me like that, there’s going to be an inquiry to decide what to do with you. Do you want to die or live?” 

“Live,” Eren replied without any hesitance. “I will live.” But there was no pleading in his voice, as if he would keep living with or without permission. 

“Good, then keep your mouth shut tomorrow and everything will be fine.” Levi released him and Eren caught himself by flapping his wings. 

_What was that supposed to mean?_

He was about to find out.


	2. Armin Arlert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOA! So this was a shorter chapter than I intended because I broke it up into two (I'll post that one later this weekend maybe) I didn't want to overwhelm you all with information. 
> 
> If you don't know my tumblr address is: 
> 
> thingsishouldntbedoing.tumblr.com 
> 
> and I'm always answering short prompts and questions (sometimes I'll post things that didn't make it into the story or additional information)!
> 
> Also I'm tracking the tags fic: featherlight and thingsishouldntbedoing in case you reblog my chapters or want to comment! I love hearing from you!

He stood by the window, peering out the ground-level hole curiously. All he really wanted was to spread his wings and fly again, feel the wind in his hair as he glided and skimmed the clouds. It was such a heavenly feeling to be a part of the air, to leap upwards with a cool updraft and dip with the pockets of heat near the ground. He sighed as a breeze picked up, bringing him the scent of summer flowers and rain. His eyrie was so far from here, he could almost hear the heavy sound of wings if he closed his eyes and cast his mind out. If others were near they could hear him, sense his presence. All he wanted was for his flock to come find him as he reached out the window into the grass outside. Swallows and finches gathered at his fingers, at peace with him in a way they weren't with humans. 

Armin couldn't help but watch, enthralled by the figure in the cage. The Avian's wings were half extended and full feathered; dare he say fluffy? Their color seemed to have shifted towards blue in this light instead of the green he'd seen the night before and the only word that came mind was _beautiful_. He'd been sent to make sure he was washed and fed but found their captive reaching out of his cage and into the world. "They're not meant to be in a box," Armin muttered and Eren started, whipping around to face him with a scowl. "S-Sorry!" He covered his face. "I'm sorry you were just... I couldn't help but watch. What is it you were doing? Birds never come near me like that." 

"You just don't understand nature," Eren told him. "What do you want?" He didn't sense any malevolence from this one either. What's going on here? 

"I came to bring you food... I didn't know what you liked so I brought you a bunch of stuff... Honey and yogurt and oats... There's some fresh fruit and smoked salmon... Here's bread and we have clotted cream too if you want..." He scuttled through the door, nervous that the Avian would try to escape. 

Eren wrinkled his nose at him but turned the only chair in the room around and leaned against the back of it, folding his arms along the top rung. This boy seemed nice, gentle and curious with soft words and a kind smile. Eren felt himself warm to him. "Is that all?" He noticed the book tucked under his arm and tilted his head. 

"Well I..." Armin wasn't sure what to do with the tray of food, Eren hadn't taken it after all. "Uh I'll just put this here." He set it on the bed within Eren's reach and sat quietly for a moment. "I wondered what it was like," he clutched the book to his chest. 

"What what's like?" Eren's wings stretched out lazily, half open in curiosity. He hadn't expected these humans to be so chatty. 

"What's it like to be out there? Everywhere?" He asked, knuckles white on his book. 

"You humans don't leave these cities do you?" Armin had the distinct feeling something was passing between them, as if the Avian was searching him... "You've never seen outside your walls because you're too afraid to live." 

"You mean to die." 

"I mean to live," his wings fluttered again. "You've never felt the chill of a cloud as you passed through, you've never looked up and seen the sun so close and the earth so far below." Armin could swear he could feel it as he spoke, the chill of water gathering on his limbs and the heat of the exposed sun in the thin air evaporating it. "You've never taken the time to tumble into the grass and breathe in the smell of the dirt or appreciated how everything in the world has it's place." He could see it now, everything working below him as he glided... From the tiniest of ants to the deer and the wildcats and wolves that fed on them. He saw the fish in the --oh the ocean-- it oscillated with white foam crests as creatures he had never seen cut through it like warm butter. He reached out and ran his fingers through it as he passed low. "Humans are so afraid to live they trample on everything in their path." He felt fear now, fear of falling as his body stuttered and his eyes snapped open, finding himself panting as his heart raced furiously against his sternum. Eren was looking away now... When had he stopped speaking? 

"What happened?" Armin asked nervously. "What was that? I felt... You were talking." 

"No. You were listening," Eren answered as Armin's lips parted. "My name is Eren, Eren Jeager." 

"I'm Armin Arlert," he was awestruck as he reached out and caught his hand in greeting. Eren smiled for the first time then and Armin smiled in return. _Are we really so different?_

"Well at least we know his name," a deep voice said from the other side of the bars. Eren's smiled dropped into a scowl as he rose from his chair, wings spreading aggressively. Armin thought of a cat somehow, the way the hair at the nape of his neck stood on end and his feathers lifted to make himself look bigger. _How big are they when they're not in this cramped space?_ "Arlert you have work to do before we leave for Sina. Quit playing house with our prisoner." 

"He stays," Eren growled as he clutched the bars of his cage. "He stays or I won't cooperate." 

Levi looked irritated, heavy lidded eyes flickering to the blonde on the bed, "No. You are not in any position to be making demands." He pulled a sword out and Eren _snarled_ but retreated to the corner of the room again. 

Armin stood and walked to the door, glancing at Eren for a moment, "He's not that bad." Eren wasn't sure if he was talking about himself or the dark haired sadist but he didn't really care. He didn't need to be justified to anyone. 

\--- 

Marco fluttered down into the grotto that served as Jean's home, folding his wings. "Jean a message just came," the swallow on his shoulder twittered as he spoke. "Jean the Queen has asked to see you." He laughed as he fluttered around Jean’s outstretched wing, prostrate and lazily flat against the ground from beneath the pads he was tucked under. “C’mon you have to get up,” he nearly slipped on a rug and caught himself with a flap of his wings. “Jean please?” He hovered over him as the pile of blankets shifted, a second wing emerging half folded. 

Avian homes were often simple, floors were covered in soft wood to protect against the stone foundation, beautiful rugs thrown around the room to provide seating around a low table. Near the back was a sunken hole that served as a bed, but it wasn’t just any bed. No Avians were proud of their beds; often condescendingly called ‘nests’ by those uneducated in their ways. It started with a woven rug to line the stone. A layer of down-filled pads were placed on top. Each pad was embroidered with silk threads, each symbolizing something different; from family insignias to presents from friends the symbol of giving someone a blanket made with your own winter down was one of trust and devotion. Often these were the only things in these holes, meaning so much to their owners that they would rather allow people to see how many loved ones had given them pads. However pillows were often an addition of choice along with woven blankets and quilts. Many fledglings and unpaired adults burrowed deep into the pads at night, feeling safe with the warmth of their loved ones around them. 

Other than the bed the only other impressive thing was the kitchen. The counters were hewn wood polished to a shine with a granite basin for water which flowed through pipes in the walls and ceilings. An alcove in the wall provided the stone, wood burning oven that was put into every home. Each oven was unique and a source of pride for their owners, some swore theirs cooked better tasting food and others were certain that only their mix of wood and charcoal would inflict the right amount of heat for a tender steak. Needless to say the one with the best stove, were it found, would be the talk of the mountain. 

Ah yes, _the mountain_. 

Avians, like all feathered creatures, liked to be close to the sky. It provided them safety and a fast escape route should they be threatened, it also provided for their flock-like nature. The Flock, as they called themselves, was the major inhabitation of Avians there had been for a hundred years. It was a city like no other, built inside an inactive volcano that heated their water and walls, the interior had been hollowed and innumerable alcoves had been built soaring up to the peak of the mountain where the noble family resided. Long ramps and bridges had been erected that crisscrossed like a web between the helical hallways. Built into the sides were winding paths that lead to family homes and businesses, sunlight cascaded through portholes dug into the rock walls and down through the open mouth of the volcano. 

The city bustled with life, wings beating the air as messengers passed this way and that, parents on their way to school with their children, businessmen on their way to work, and passers-by who were between errands. It was a celebration of colors from the darkest blacks and the brightest whites and everything in between. From the massive brown and white speckled feathers of Scouts to the speedy display of crimson and green from messengers there was nothing like standing on the edge of a precipice and watching the Avians fly by… but today the city was still. 

“Jean you have to get up they’re preparing to leave,” he settled down next to him on his knees, swallow fluttering over to perch on the table. “Wah!” A pair of arms shot out and dragged him under the pads and he nestled down in the sudden warmth. “Jean be serious.” 

“What’s going on?” He nuzzled his face into Marco’s throat and nipped his adam’s apple, hands seeking their way up his shirt. “You said the Queen wanted me?” 

“She asked for you by name,” he gasped lightly. “Now is not the time! Don’t get your feathers up!” 

“Why me?” He complained as Marco wrapped his arms around his neck. “I just want to stay in bed today.” 

“Because you’re a good leader… the boy’s gone missing Jean… I know you don’t--” 

“By the gods are you serious? She wants me to go on a goose-chase?” He sounded incredulous. “He probably got too close to one of the walls and they shot him down, kid’s always got a fucking deathwish. No. Indubitably no.” He slid his tongue along his collarbone. “Besides I’m not a Scout, I’m a Guard.” 

“Jean you’re the best,” Marco chided. “Quit that!” He tried to push his head away as his tongue flicked over his shoulder. “She trusts you!” 

“I don’t care about the humans,” Jean murmured. “I don’t care about all this shit, the war’s been over for years… just let them stay behind their walls and sulk while I live in peace.” 

“Jean…” Marco said his name again and Jean looked up at him, grey eyes dark in the shadow of the bed. “It’s not over, it won’t be over until one or both of our kinds are dead… and we need someone like you to lead us.” 

Jean searched his face and scoffed, sitting up and stretching finally. Marco liked it when Jean stretched, running his hands up his back as his dark wings lifted, he could see every detailed muscle and slide his fingers between the valleys and ridges of soft skin. “Are you going?” 

“Yes, of course,” Marco nodded and leaned to plant a soft kiss between his wings. “I’ll follow you into the sun.” 

“But only for a while, you’ll burn,” Jean replied and Marco laughed, falling to the bed as Jean rose to dress. 

He dressed quickly with Marco’s urgings and a few stolen kisses. What he was most excited for was flight, flying again after a long night. Jean stretched his dark wings and soared into the air, it felt good to stretch and the burning oxygen in his lungs made his eyes bright as he flew out the mouth of the volcano above the Queen’s eyrie. He basked in the sun for a moment, looking down at Marco hovering near the eyrie. Yes, nothing could be better than this. The white pinions of his wings whistled as he glided back down in lazy circles. Marco thought he looked rather like a eagle, sharp and noble. 

“I think that’s enough, huh?” Marco said as they landed and let him curl his arms around his waist and press their foreheads together. “Mmm… you have work to do, quit flirting.” His senses tingled from the connection, enjoying the feeling of Jean’s flight. 

“I can’t help it, your freckles are just too cute.” He nudged his cheek and nipped his ear before walking into the Queen’s eyrie. 

"He tries so hard to be cool," Marco chuckled as he followed. 

\--- 

Eren huddled down in the cart he was being transported in, unhappy with the current arrangement. Fortunately the curious eyes of bystanders couldn't bore into his back as he picked at his coverts and soft down beneath the feathers. He ran his fingers through his secondary and tertiary pinions, humming. "What are you doing, brat?" He heard the captain's voice. 

"Hff--" he turned his back to him and preened his other wing grumpily. Levi _smiled_ and rode on. _I just want to go home._ He lifted his head to peer out the window at his retreating back, at the wings on his green cloak. _If they hate us so much why do they use wings for their symbol?_ There were too many confusing things about these people. 

“How are you?” He heard a familiar voice and looked up curiously. “I saw Captain Levi so I thought I’d check on you.” 

“Levi?” Eren echoed. “Is that his name, then?” 

“Yeah, he seems really harsh but he’s actually really kind.” 

“If you say so.” 

“I don’t lie, I like you.” 

That surprised him; this boy had met him once and yet here he was telling him that he liked him. “You can’t like me, I’m a monster to your people.” He muttered. “We’re at war with each other remember?” 

“Sure but… why can’t we get to know each other?” Armin asked. “I want to know more of what you know… and maybe we could be friends?” 

“Friends.” Eren mulled the word over for a moment. “If I live through this and I become free again… I will take you to the ocean for real.” 

“Do you mean that?” Armin asked and Eren looked up towards the sky, birds gliding in the blue. How he missed his home. 

“Yes, of course.” 

And that was how he became friends with Armin Arlert. 

\--- 

He glided through the air, picking up lift with a cool shot of air that send them all higher above the clouds. His wingspan was undoubtedly the longest, near eight meters when gliding, with dark brown and black feathers glinting gold and red in the sunlight. He turned gently to the side, picking up lift yet again with a heavy undulation that the others followed to stay aloft. Over years of evolution the Avians had made their flying more simple, less taxing on their bodies, by using buckles and slings for their feet and arms. Inspired by the harnesses used by humans in their absurd little ‘maneuver gears’ Jean had to admit the stirrups on his feet helped to keep his knees straight. 

“You’re thinking again,” Marco swept down beside him and smiled. His wings were soft and brown like his eyes with flecks of white and grey. 

“I’m thinking we’re walking into a trap, what does it matter if that kid is gone anyway? He’s more trouble than he’s worth.” Jean grumbled. 

“ _Jean_.” 

“Alright I know he’s… I know he is what he is but I just can’t help myself, why should we let someone like him be around anyway?” 

“He’s our last hope, Jean, the last hope to prove to them we’re just like them and… if we let them kill him then what do we do?” Marco flapped to keep up with him, looking back to check the others. 

Jean wasn’t listening, watching the grass rolling on the plans below them. The Earth with the humans behind their walls was beautiful. “Shouldn’t we have the world to ourselves?” 

“Don’t be selfish, it’s meant to be shared with everybody! We should all just live in peace, don’t you think?” He replied incredulously. 

“You sure do have some wild ideas,” Jean muttered and thought back to the Queen and her request. _She wants us to bring him back? I wish I knew how she planned on us getting out alive._ He clutched the message in his jacket and swallowed. 

_“Tell me, Jean, you were in the fledglings with Eren Jaeger weren’t you?” Her face was always hidden behind silk, her long dark hair hanging down her back in a fall of braids. He wished for a moment to see her, he’d always wanted to see the face behind the deep voice._

_“Yes your highness, he was a miserable klutz.”_ But he was a hard worker. _He had reminded himself, in fact he had graduated one spot behind the kid and he had never quite forgiven Eren for it._

_“I see… well he was captured not far from one of the human city-states. I will need you to recover him.” She told him, dark wings fluttering against her dark skin._

_“Recover? But--”_

_“He is our last hope. You cannot allow the humans to waste theirs as well.” She told him sternly. “I promised his mother I would keep him safe.”_

_“I understand… but should we be risking the lives of our soldiers to save one person? There may be others like him.” He grumbled._

_“There are none. Do as I say.” This time her voice was sharp and Jean flinched._

_But what if?_ What if there were others like him? How would they know? He supposed that wasn’t for him to know, above his pay-grade as it were. _And yet… what if she’s right? And they do kill him before it’s time?_

“When will it be time?” Marco murmured, sensing his distress. 

“I don’t know Marco. That’s not for me to know.” He looked down. “Below! Dive!” He slacked his wings and began his descent into what he feared may be his death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A TON OF ERERI IN THE NEXT CHAPTER I SWEAR! Also sads. Keep some tissues handy. <3


	3. Bonded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH AHEAD
> 
> I warned you there'd be sads here. Sorry OTL
> 
> Also there is a buttload of exposition in this so I'm sorry about trying to explain too much, this is why I put this into a second chapter.

Levi looked up as he heard the fluttering of wings, the bells of the towers ringing above them. _What’s the brat done?_ He glanced at the carriage with Eren in it, his tanned face was peering between the bars curiously and it was all Levi could do not to poke his eyes. “READY YOUR WEAPONS!” He heard Erwin’s call and watched soldiers soar off their horses as a pair of massive eagle wings came into view. 

_Have they come to save me?_ Eren felt his heart lift as he saw them and he stretched his arm out. “LEAVE!” He felt his body saying, terrified as he saw the first flier meet his end by a bullet through the throat. _What is happening?_ He shook the bars and flapped his wings angrily as he saw them glide by quick as a whip. These were elites, quick and tactful they could avoid the basic soldier but not someone like Levi. “FLY! FLY YOU FOOLS!” He beat his wings against the wood, aching as Armin looked at him pitifully before gliding off on his maneuver gear amongst the screams of the townspeople. 

Jean checked his wing guards, making sure the soldiers behind him hadn’t been taken out. It was nerve wracking to be in charge of this sort of thing. _Hell._ Battle was too fast paced to send out full frequencies and they communicated through short bursts of simple commands. He wove between buildings, whipping around a corner as gunmen lined the streets. _Stay close._ He whirled high into the air and the others stayed close behind with heavy wingbeats. _They recovered quickly. Don’t give them time to do it again._ He checked Marco who smiled reassuringly as they dove again for another sweep. 

“LEAVE!” Eren cried again as he saw them swing above to return. He was nearly crying as his comrades dipped and wove between clock towers and narrow alleys. Their hands were extended, the vicious blades that curved off their gauntlets were like talons, glinting in the sunlight as they swooped low and caught the throat of the human soldiers. Coming in low and fast was the best way to combat the human’s guns, shredding the soft flesh of their necks and eyes. “No…” He watched one of the humans slice straight through an Avian’s wings as she passed, sending her body crashing to the ground. “No not for me…” He felt the wood splinter as he shoved against the carriage’s restraints. “I can’t let them die for me…” He ground his head against the frame angrily. 

Jean’s talons shone as he landed feet first on a soldier, whirling to nearly rip another’s head clean off before beating his wings only to find that a soldier had stepped on the beautiful white primaries. “Now you die--” he slid the bolt into place on his rifle and a pair of talons burst out his mouth. 

“Jean be more careful, I’m going to let him out,” Marco hurried off and Jean took flight once more. 

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Jean whirled around as a figure soared through the air with more precision than he’d ever seen a human use before. 

_Fly! Fly!_ He could hear Eren’s pleading and beat his wings as hard as he could to get away from this man with the short dark hair. _FLY!_

Eren sobbed, shoving against the walls of his carriage angrily and nearly rocking it on its side. “Huh?” The door unlocked and swung open. 

“I told you… I’d repay the favor,” the girl named Ackerman muttered. “Go, be free.” 

Eren looked at her curiously, heart pounding. _Why are these humans acting like this?_ He hesitated, hearing the sounds of people dying outside for his sake. “Thank you,” he stepped out and touched her shoulder gently. _Didn’t you promise someone you’d do something for him?_ He turned his back to her and took off. 

Jean rounded a corner, clipping his wing as he went. _Hell._ He couldn’t keep that word out of his head today. His wings screamed as he desperately tried to draw them away from their target. _This was a suicide mission all along._ He realized it now, feeling stupid. _I can’t shake him._ He could almost feel the blades on his wings as the dark haired man pursued him. _Why did I bring Marco?_

“Jean?” He could hear his voice and he closed his eyes, passing between buildings without trouble. 

Sonar was a tricky thing. Only a few fliers ever mastered its use and Jean was by all meanings a master. He had even begun to fly through cities without the use of his eyes. This provided two benefits: he could use the sounds of a battle to determine where he was needed most and the transfer of feedback was increased a hundredfold. Neural impulses take time to transfer from optic gland to optic nerve and into the epicenter of motion control while the baser auditory nerve and electromagnetic reception in their cerebellum allow for precise moment-to-moment aggregation of information and accurate turn-by-turn spatial coordination. “Jean I’m alright, I’ve seen Eren take flight I’m going with him.” He felt relieved as his senses tingled, taking a sharp turn around a bell tower. “Don’t die.” 

_You too._ He could still feel humanity’s strongest behind him, on his pinions without breaking a sweat. _It’s time to get out of here!_ He broadcast and took off into the air, too far out of Levi’s reach. 

“Damn it,” Levi landed on top of a tower and whipped out his rifle as he saw five figures retreating. The dark eagle wings of the one he’d been chasing, the smaller ones of scouts and… “No…” His heart dropped as he saw the beautiful green and white wings of his prisoner. “How did he get out?” He jammed the bolt into place before lining up his shot and firing. 

Jean was jubilant as he opened his eyes, then his heart sank. He counted only four figures beneath him. _Four._ Of the _thirty_ that had come with him. _I failed you, Marco._ The bullet that ripped through his tertiaries never even entered his mind. _That bastard!_ His wing stuttered and collapsed in on itself, between the broken shafts from clipping the building and now this… _I’m so sorry._ He fell to the ground, gliding in circles as best he could before stumbling to his feet. _I have to run…_ He could hear them coming and he started moving, half dragging his wing as he did. 

Eren turned to look and felt his wings falter. More Avians were lifting into the sky than before, perhaps ten or fifteen and it filled his heart with joy but… the blonde boy from before stood on a watchtower looking up at him longingly. _Well that’s what you get for trusting me._ He thought but those eyes watched him so desperately even as he lifted his hand to reach for him. _Are we friends?_ He wondered and his chest tightened. _I can’t just abandon people who were so kind to me can I?_ He shook his head and turned to look forward but there… _She set me free._ Ackerman stood on the wall, watching him sadly. _Why?_ He saw familiar wings beneath him, circling. _He’s falling._ Jean had never been his favorite person but… he had done all this for him. He couldn’t just leave living soldiers there. Not after all this. He laid his wings back and close to his body and dove. 

_Well I’ll be damned._ Levi watched him dive to the ground and hopped down, swinging between buildings on his maneuver gear. 

Jean panted, fear coiling tight in his belly as he rounded a corner and staggered. _Marco… Marco I’m--_ He felt his stomach turn at the sight that awaited him and he hit his knees hard. _I’m going to die here._ He caught him in his arms, felt his head hit heavy against his shoulder as he cradled him. _Marco._ He could feel the slick blood seep onto his body and soak his shirt. _No please._ Tears burned his face, hot and bitter as he buried his face against his hair. _Not this._

Eren landed silently, folding his wings as he watched. Red soaked Jean’s leathers, smeared across his face. _No._ The emotions hit him hard and he nearly went weak as Jean rocked, shaking with each heavy sob. 

“How? HOW DID HE DIE?” Jean cried and Eren watched him clutch the body in his arms, the one greying wing sagging. “DID YOU SEE? HE WAS FINE!” He looked over, distraught and all Eren could do was shake his head silently. 

_Is this what’s going to happen to all of us?_ He wondered as Jean let out a howl of pain. _Even someone like Marco?_ He clutched his chest and hung his head as he heard the whirring of maneuver gears. 

\--- 

Levi watched him, seated across from the bed, arms folded over his chest and one leg over the other almost impatiently. It had been almost a day since the ambush from the Avians and he’d added a second to his collection. 

Wings stretched lazily, unfolding from their protective hold against his body as the breeze fluttered in through the window. _Where am I?_ Eren wondered as he groaned lightly and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. _Safe?_ He felt safe for now in the warm sunlight and flowing satin bedsheets. Everything was different somehow, why wasn’t he in a cage? 

Levi liked the sound his wings made when they fluttered softly before stretching out to their full length, a good seven or eight meters if he had to estimate. The sight took his breath away. They were really unlike anything else he’d ever seen, each layer of flying feathers lifting in turn as Eren inspected them. The Avian combed his fingers through the delicate barbs of each feather lovingly, humming low in his throat sadly. Levi wasn’t sure if he’d noticed him or not, waiting patiently until he started plucking down from his coverts. “Why are those different?” He asked finally and Eren started, flapping his wings angrily. 

“What are you talking about?” He asked when Levi stood up. “What are you doing here anyway? Watching me sleep?” His immediate aggression left him little time to ask questions. 

“Something like that, turns out I’m going to be keeping an eye on you,” he walked over and caught the top of his head harshly. “So don’t try anything stupid.” 

“What happened to my friend?” He asked, holding the grey gaze of his ‘keeper’. “What did you do with Jean?” 

“Well see… he had a note on him,” he hummed. “A note from your Queen it seems.” 

“Ymir?” Eren asked curiously and tugged gently at his alula, the short feathers at the hinge of his wing. “What did it say? Did she send them here? Why?” 

“To rescue you, it would seem,” Levi released his head and sat down on the bed sending Eren scuttling away from him. “Do you hate me?” He asked the wings that had fluffed up in irritation again. “You know I’m just doing my job.” Eren folded his knees up and rested his chin on them, contemplating his answer. Did he hate him? He seemed cruel but he _had_ rescued him from those two men. “Why didn’t you go?” Levi asked and reached out to run a dark green pinion between his fingers. “You could have escaped but you came back.” 

“That’s none of your business,” Eren muttered, jerking his wing out of his reach and folding it around himself. 

“Anyone else would have taken the chance.” 

“Well I didn’t.” 

“Why?” 

“I told you that’s none of your business!” Eren said sharply and Levi withdrew slightly. “It’s just… there’s something I have to do.” 

“What’s that?” 

“It’s none of your _damned_ business!” Eren flapped his wings angrily and hopped over to the window. “I could go right now, you know? I could jump out this window and be gone and you’d never see me again.” 

“That’s a shame. Go ahead then.” 

“What?” Eren frowned and looked over his shoulder at him. Levi was sitting back on his elbows on the bed, one ankle of his knee. “You don’t care?” 

“You won’t do it.” 

“Why not?” 

“You have something you have to do.” His eyes glittered and Eren almost smiled. “Your friend is safe.” 

“I don’t trust you.” 

“You shouldn’t.” 

“Then I won’t,” the Avian huffed and rested his forehead against the cool glass of the window thoughtfully. “Why am I not locked up?” 

“I can arrange that.” 

“I’m just asking _why_ I don’t want to be,” Eren sniped. 

“Because they don’t know you escaped, I told them you behaved yourself like a good little brat.” 

“I’m not a brat,” Eren turned to look at him again as he caught the curtains in his fingers almost shyly. “But thank you…” he cast his eyes downwards. 

“No need to thank me,” Levi sat upright again and folded his arms over his chest. “The Queen’s letter was too bloodstained to read. They’re working on deciphering it while your fellow sleeps.” 

“What are you going to do to Jean?” Eren asked softly. 

“He was fighting in the line of duty, he had no malintent for those soldiers who were trying to hinder his job. He won’t be put to death, not if Commander Erwin has anything to say about it. He’s useful,” he picked up a piece of down and rolled it between his fingers thoughtfully. “You lost as many men as we did.” 

“You’re weird,” Eren muttered and swore he saw a flicker of a smile in those grey eyes. 

“Am I? I daresay you are one to talk. You had the chance to run and you came back ‘because you have something to do’ doesn’t that seem odd?” 

“I just mean… most people would be upset if their friends died.” 

“You’re just a naive little kid aren’t you?” Levi watched him stroke the soft feathers of his coverts again. “Look I can’t begrudge someone for trying to stay alive. All these battles, all these skirmishes… somebody has to die and the grief is the same on both sides.” 

“Your people would have you believe we feel no pain.” 

“Not all humankind is the same, Eren,” he murmured. “You’ve learned that already from Arlert.” He got the reaction he wanted when Eren whipped around, wings high and wide. 

“Did you do something to him?” 

“No he’s fine. Helping your friend in fact,” Levi said as he stood. “You’re different. I knew that from the beginning.” He stepped closer, hedging his bets that Eren wouldn’t draw away. “I don’t know what’s different yet, what draws me to you, but I’ll figure it out eventually… until then I hope you stay.” 

“And help you murder more of my kind?” He turned just slightly but didn’t step back, one wing unfolding with the shift of his body. 

“And help me understand your kind,” he touched the long flying feathers of his folded wing and Eren stared him down as he stepped closer. 

“Why now?” 

“Because I watched this brat turn away from freedom, and it made me curious.” Eren smiled a little, heart skipping as he neared once more. 

“Maybe one day I’ll tell you.” 

“I’d like that,” Levi muttered. To him Eren smelled like feathers and flowers and the darkest tilled earth, standing here within a hair’s breadth of his body he tilted his chin up and searched the deep turquoise eyes that watched him so curiously. 

“I know you would,” he felt mesmerized as he held his gaze. _What does all this mean?_ He wondered. _Is he going to kiss me?_

“Captain Levi!” Petra broke whatever they’d had by opening the door. “Oh you’re awake! Hi Eren,” she smiled and he flushed lightly with Levi’s grumpy frown. “Commander Erwin wants to see you.” She looked between them curiously and Levi nodded. 

“Of course. Clean up Jaeger he’s filthy,” Levi dismissed and brushed past her. 

“Yessir,” she nodded and grinned at Eren. He had a bad feeling about this. 

\--- 

He was there, his warm smile pressed against his lips as Jean’s fingers carded through his hair. _Marco._ He smiled as those strong hands pressed at his shoulders and tenderly worked their way down his back, thumbs coasting over the sharp edge of his hip. There was Marco whispering soothing words and kissing his pains away. Marco. 

“Marco.” He murmured his name feverishly. “Marco!” Someone caught his hand and his heart leapt as his eyes opened. A face swam into view but… “You’re…” 

“My name is Armin Arlert,” the boy told him gently. His hands were soft and cool around Jean’s, slender hands like a woman’s. “It’s okay you were wounded in battle and I’ve been taking care of you.” He reached out to touch the side of his face, coasting his fingers against his cheek. 

“Where’s Marco?” He asked as his senses returned, sitting upright in bed. He groaned as a dull, deep pain rolled through his side. 

“No! Please lay down!” The boy called Armin pleaded, pushing him back down gently. “You weren’t aware of the wound in your side I don’t think, the bullet missed vital organs but it did ruin your flying feathers.” He muttered. “I think you were mid-stroke so…” 

“Marco?” He asked again. 

“Is that… is that the one you were holding?” Armin asked at a whisper. 

“Where is he?” He groaned, stretching out his good wing. “Why isn’t he here?” _As if you don’t know the answer._ But he couldn’t accept that. He couldn’t accept that Marco was… _gone. Gone just like that._ He’d had no idea. He didn’t even get to say goodbye. Tears burned his eyes and he felt a cool hand on his face again. 

“I’m sorry,” his voice broke. “I know that must have been hard for you.” He watched the sadness flicker in Jean’s eyes and his heart broke. _They have so many ways to share things… I wonder what this is like?_ “Was he--” 

“My bonded,” Jean muttered. Armin had read about this phenomenon; Avians would pair off together for survival: during approved mating periods males and females came together for procreation and while oftentimes those matings would form a bond it was also often seen that males or females would form bonds with others of their sex. This was seen as beneficial: it allowed for lowered reproduction rates and less strain on their already dwindling resources as well as increasing overall happiness for Avians grow lonely without each other. Whether partnerships were created for shared resources, or most likely due to mutual attraction, the reason was often irrelevant anymore due to the abolishment of the breeding season. Breeding pairs were often more pervasive but the bonding practice was widely accepted as an appropriate alternative. Anything but being alone. 

Armin clutched his hand before it could slip away and hung his head, “I tried to find out what happened… I’m sorry I couldn’t learn more.” 

“You what?” Jean asked, looking back at him curiously. 

“I… you wanted to know how he died so I tried to find out. I’m sorry that I couldn’t.” He muttered. 

“Why would you do that?” Jean wondered. 

“I just… I figured you were bonded and… I just… I can’t understand what that feels like but I just… I wanted to get you some answers.” He looked up when he squeezed his hand. 

“Thank you,” Jean murmured and settled back onto the pillows he was propped up on, closing his eyes. He’d ask questions later, for now he needed rest… for now he wanted to be back in Marco’s arms once again. 

“Of course,” Armin watched him fade into sleep and smiled. At least it was peaceful sleep this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be out Wednesday! Let me know what you think at: thingsishouldntbedoing.tumblr.com if you're bored!


	4. Water and Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE BEEN SO SICK. HERE IS A SHORT CHAPTER. I broke what was going to be chapter four into two chapters, the next one will be posted tomorrow. I hope it makes sense, ask away if you don't understand because I was pretty much drugged out on dayquil and mucinex for this whole thing. 
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: featherlight, thingsishouldntbedoing

Eren couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a bath but this was certainly not going to be how it happened. “Absolutely not!” He protested as Petra gestured at the water. “I will not be subjected to scrutiny.” 

“You’re not going to be, we’re just going to wash your hair and stuff,” Petra tried to soothe him. “Please?” 

“I don’t want to,” he turned his back to her and fluffed his feathers. 

“You are the _most_ stubborn person I have ever met!” Petra chided. 

“If you don’t get in the water I’ll tell Captain Levi not to come visit you anymore,” Mikasa told him quietly and he glared at her. 

“Well that’s… fine,” he grumbled. “Whatever you want Ackerman.” 

“My name is Mikasa,” she told him and he spread his wings a little more. “You’re starting to smell.” 

“I am not! I do not wish to be subjected to this sort of treatment, if I am going to bathe I will do it on my own!” 

“If we stand in the other room will you do it?” Petra asked finally. 

Eren seemed to consider this, watching steam rise from the water delectably… then finally: “Fine.” 

“I think you’re afraid of us,” Mikasa told him as they passed by. 

“I am not!” Was the last they heard as they shut the door. 

“I feel like it’s time for a break,” Petra muttered. “Between taking care of this kid and looking after the Captain I feel like I need a babysitter.” 

“We are the babysitters,” Mikasa told her. 

“Exactly, the parents have to come home sometime,” Petra laughed. 

“I wonder what that letter was about.” 

“Oh… I’m not sure I was thinking about that myself,” She looked at Mikasa. “Why now of all times? It’s been a hundred years since we’ve seen any Avians… I mean inside the walls of course.” 

“Something’s happening that we can’t understand,” Mikasa murmured. 

“Did you really let him out?” Petra tilted her head, eyes serious. “You know that could be considered treason?” 

“When I was a little girl my parents were killed by men who wanted to sell my mother and I on the black market,” Mikasa said softly, “A boy who had just fledged came and saved me.” 

“Really? What happened next?” Her eyes widened. 

“He left me at a family’s home that ended up adopting me, I never got his name but…” She glanced towards the door. “Beneath his molting grey baby down I could see green feathers.” 

“So you think the boy that saved you was Eren?" Petra asked, eyes wide. 

"I'm not sure... I've been too nervous to ask." She looked at the ground, tracing a circle against the stone floor with the toe of her boot. 

“Eren’s a kind boy, he’ll understand if you want to know.” 

“Sure,” Mikasa murmured. “I’ll think about it.” 

Petra watched her for a moment longer, then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. _Getting to say thank you to your hero for the first time… I imagine that might be tough._ She squeezed her gently. 

\--- 

Eren felt better clean, fluttering his damp wings as he filled the tub again with hot water. It wasn’t the water he was used to, not as clean and fresh as the limestone filtered waters that filled the baths in his home, but it was warm enough that he enjoyed it. Oh how he missed being home, relaxing in his eyrie and watching friends and neighbors fly by, taking flight whenever he wanted and doing whatever he wanted… why couldn’t he have just flown away back then? Back home to the roost? He fluttered his wings again and sighed. 

“JAEGER!” The door to the bathroom slammed open, sending Eren scrambling out of the bath water and onto the stone with water sloshing onto the floor. His wings were heavy with liquid as he flapped them, scrambling to get away from him and grab a towel as Levi’s voice echoed on the ceilings and the walls. “JAEGER WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?” He was livid as Eren jerked a towel around his waist and peered at him shyly. 

_Oh gods_ … Eren snorted and Levi’s wet face grew more furious. His hair was plastered to his scalp and his clothes were dripping, sticking to his chest beneath his harness. Eren swallowed as the captain pulled his sopping jacket off and threw it on the ground. “I’m so sorry you… you startled me,” his wings opened just slightly before folding up again. 

“Saints you are by far the dumbest creature I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with,” he told him. “Look at this goddamned mess! I came in here to make sure you hadn’t fucking drowned and you… YOU!” He stomped his foot. “Stop cowering over there and come here.” 

“You seem angry,” Eren scuttled closer as he shivered in the cool air. “Can I get dressed?” 

“Not yet, how long have you been in here?” 

“I’ve just been relaxing! I’m always surrounded by you buzzing humans.” He retorted, fluffing his damp feathers. 

“Buzzing? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He caught a towel in his hand and dried his hair. 

“You… buzz.” He replied, blinking. “Humans are always so busy and your minds are always racing so… when I’m around you it just sounds like a hum.” 

“Well we don’t live very long,” Levi told him. 

“You don’t live at all.” 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? You Avians and your arrogance, perhaps you could try explaining things instead of just assuming we have any idea what you mean. Maybe you wouldn’t be dying off.” He threw his towel at him. 

“Perhaps a better question is: why are you not listening? You mean you can’t hear the hum inside your city?” Eren peeled the damp towel off his face and tossed it into the basket. 

“I hear horses and carriages and people yelling.” 

“That’s not it,” he shook his head. “Humans seem to have the aptitude… to really listen. Armin showed me that… and if you try you can… hear…” He tried to put it into words but the buzzing was growing louder the longer he hesitated. 

Levi stared him down and Eren had the distinct feeling he was trying to see through him. Down to his very bones. He took a step forward and Eren countered until his wings bumped against the stone wall. _What are you doing?_ He searched his grey eyes as he neared. _What do you want from me? Are all humans this forward?_

“Don’t tell me whether I’m living or not. I’ve seen more than you ever have.” Levi told him, jabbing his finger against a water droplet on his chest. The thick muscles of his chest and shoulders were overdeveloped for a human; differentiated for arm movement and wingbeats. The sharp cut of his hip was enhanced by the soft line of towel slowly sliding down his damp skin and it was all Levi could do not to tug it down all the way. 

The desire of the human in front of him hit his senses like a bucket of hot coals. He felt every drop of pooling need, every flicker of his heavy-lidded eyes over his skin, every staccato heartbeat. Trying to keep his cool when all he wanted to do was blush and turn his head away he had to distract himself, “You’ve seen bloodshed… have you ever seen the clear waters of the ocean or the black smoke of an erupting volcano? Or a spit of land in the middle of a sea the color of grass?” He asked softly. 

He hesitated, dragging the tip of his finger down the skin of his ribcage, then drew back. “Dry off. Our resident nutcase wants to see you.” 

The tension had lessened but Eren still felt the deep heat of his finger sliding down his body. He wasn’t about to question it. Don’t think about it. 

He had never bonded. Something about him kept the other Avians at arm’s reach. They were kind, his friends loved him dearly, they spent time in each others’ company but… he’d never felt passion like this directed at him. His people didn’t mate frivolously, there was no casual sex or one night stands. No, mating was too intimate in a way humans couldn’t possibly understand. Desire was shared and extreme and engrossing. Sex wasn’t a simple physical act. It involved so much more. The exchange of thoughts and dreams and feelings and emotions. Your partner would hear and see and _listen_ and… his heart was almost pounding at the thought. _Does he think of me that way?_ He wondered. _Or is it just…_

“Well? Get dressed!” Levi broke his thoughts and he hopped to it. He’d have to worry about the rest later. 

\--- 

Jean was complacent as Armin unwrapped the bandage on his wing, hearing his gasp as a feather shaft slipped from infected skin as soon as it was free to move. “The shafts need to be removed.” He shivered, feverish from his infection. He’d been feeling ill and after trying everything Armin had finally relented and unwrapped his wing. “They… they’ll grow back…” He leaned forward onto Armin’s shoulder as the boy felt his stomach turn. 

“I’m… I’m so sorry I… I did this…” He trembled and Jean shook his head. 

“You couldn’t know… p-pull the shafts…” He muttered. 

The flesh around where the broken feathers had been held in place was angry and swollen. Interstitial fluid had filled the area giving it a distinct odor that Armin almost couldn’t stand… perhaps less than he could stand the idea of pulling feathers out of this man he’d just met. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Do it!” Jean commanded and Armin caught the end of a broken shaft and a wave of nausea rushed over him when the feather gave and slid easily out of the flesh. 

_I really fucked up._ He trembled. 

None of the doctors had wanted to treat him. Hanji had offered but Armin was terrified of what she would have done… now he regretted it. At least she would have known what to do. She wouldn’t have put his life in danger like this. 

“I’m so sorry.” He said with each pull. He was pulling black and white feathers for what felt like an excruciating amount of time. Each extraction made the Avian grunt softly, shoulders trembling. Armin had the distinct feeling he was crying. “There… there it’s finished.” He said. The flesh of his wing looked naked without the feathers and Armin couldn’t help but stare. It was odd to see a wing uncovered, to see that there was flesh and bone beneath those soft barbs. “Let me… let me clean it,” he dipped a cloth into the warm water he’d brought and gently wiped at the skin. 

Jean watched, breathing harder than he wanted, though the flesh was already aching each pull had been like breaking a finger… he had never seen a human like this before. Especially not a soldier. Gentle hands scrubbed away the build up with careful circles, mouth muttering apologies as he dabbed alcohol onto each pit with careful and loving consideration. He bandaged his wing again, dressing it delicately. _He reminds me of Marco. Too kind to be a soldier. Too gentle to be a killer._

“What are you thinking about?” Armin asked softly. “If you don’t mind me asking.” He had caught sight of golden eyes learning the lines of his face and it made his heart stutter. 

“What happened to Marco’s body?” He watched the boy’s face sink in disappointment. 

“I’m not sure. We talked about this when you woke up before. I tried to find out and… I just couldn’t get any information out of them. But I’m certain he’s going to be buried.” Armin smiled reassuringly. 

“Buried!?” Jean stood up sharply, upsetting Armin and spilling the bucket. Water lapped at the stone floor, spreading out and around the ground as Jean watched. A feather whirled around in the makeshift tide as the world roared around him. They were going to bury his bonded. Bury. He couldn’t even move his legs. 

“Is that not… is that not right?” Armin asked meekly under the gaze of those eagle eyes. 

“No. He can’t be put in the ground. He doesn’t belong in the ground.” His heart ached and he descended upon the boy. “Find him! Go find him I need to know where he is. He has to be… he can’t be buried! You can’t let them do that to him!” 

Armin felt his heart quake and nodded. “Y-Yes you… you stay here.” He scrambled to his feet, wet from the upset bucket but he had other things to do. _I can’t let someone hurt like this. I have to do something… anything._

\--- 

Just what exactly the ‘resident nutcase’ was Eren discovered quickly. She was a brown haired woman with bright eyes and a voracious appetite for questions. He fluttered his wings uncomfortably as she stretched each one out and measured it precisely. She plucked a feather and placed it in a little jar, swabbed his mouth with a strange stick, and then-- 

“NO!” Eren scrambled away from her as quickly as possible, right into the waiting arms of Levi. They clamped down with enough force that the air left his lungs and he choked, teeth clacking as his jaw hit his shoulder. 

“Awe it won’t hurt wittle one…” Hanji purred and walked closer, needle glinting in her fingers. “I just need a sample of your blood.” 

“I’m not going to hold him here. I don’t like the idea of him getting stuck any more than he does.” Levi told her drily. 

“Can’t you just hold him still? It won’t take long.” She looked like a puppy whose toy had been taken. “Levi it’s for the good of humanity to understand these creatures.” 

“He’s scared,” Levi replied and felt Eren lean against him. So he’s starting to trust me? “And you’re calling him a creature. He hasn’t tried to eat anyone or gouge out your eyeballs…” 

“Are you defending him?” She blinked. “It’s just a little blood… I want to see what their DNA is like.” 

He certainly didn’t like this man but the lesser of two evils seemed like the best choice at the time. At least he only yelled. He could handle yelling. 

“Stop that!” A voice cut sharp through the air and the other two looked. “Just leave him alone!” A hand caught his and pulled him from Levi’s surprised grasp. 

“Mikasa?” Eren blinked. 

“Don’t touch him again!” He followed like a toddler as the other stood stood dumbstruck in the laboratory. She led him down the hallways of Castle Utgard, quiet the whole way. “I can’t believe them! Captain Levi letting her do that stuff to you and… and you just going along with it!” 

“What was I supposed to do?” 

“I don’t know! You can’t… you can’t let her do that stuff to you she’s crazy!” Mikasa told him, voice breaking. “She’ll hurt you and never think twice about it!” Before he knew it they were streaming across the yard, the sinking sun bright in his eyes. She finally stopped in the gardens and he was enveloped in the scent of the flowers, the sounds of the trees rustling, the soft breeze that ruffled his feathers. It had been such a long time since he’d been outside. Since he’d been able to take a deep breath of fresh air unhindered by bars or windows. He closed his eyes and sighed. 

Mikasa watched him, enthralled by the rapture on his face. He looked so at peace, so happy and relaxed. His wings were half open, catching the wind lazily and she desperately wanted to speak… to ask him if he really was that person. The boy that had saved her life. He had given her a reason to live again. She knew she couldn’t stop fighting until she saw him again. Until she could face him again and tell him all he had done… repay him. But how could she repay him for that? For keeping her alive? 

What would she do… what would she do then? 

When it was all said and done. When she told him. If he really was. 

What would she do with her life? 

She had lived all this time for him. To see him and feel him and thank him. To know that she could do something for him in return… 

She was terrified that he might be the right one. If only because it would bring an end to her search. “Eren.” She fought for the courage to speak to him. 

“Huh?” His eyes opened blissfully, focusing on her. “Oh sorry it’s so lovely out. It feels like a lifetime since I was allowed outside.” 

Those eyes. They made her heart ache. “Eren I was wondering…” 

“Huh?” A shout drew the Avian’s attention. The distinct scent of smoke filled his nostrils and he flapped his wings curiously. “Fire?” 

“Burning. They burn the bodies of the deceased.” Mikasa explained. “It’s so disease doesn’t spread within the walls.” 

“The bodies…” Eren’s lips parted. “Oh no…” With a few steps and heavy wingbeats he took off, leaving Mikasa standing in the flowerbeds… fingers clutched around the heavy red scarf she wore. 

She supposed it would have to wait.


	5. Halves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short again and is really just disappointingly crappy and I'm really sorry... Really really sorry. I promise the next one will be better.

Armin coughed as thick black smoke filled his lungs. A pair of arms caught around him and pulled him back as several people shouted, powerful wings pushing the smoke away. He looked up and found Jean’s solemn face. _How did he get out here?_ The Avian fluttered down a little ways away from the smoke, unable to fly far with one wing. _Oh…_

“Jean?” His arms released him as he looked up, golden eyes following the columns of smoke. “I… I guess there were too many… they burned them instead.” 

“All of them?” He thought of his pads back home… of the one filled with Marco’s down… and all he wanted to do was bury himself between them. He wanted to be there again with Marco in his arms all freckled shoulders and wings… the fingers that laced through his surprised him. 

“I’m sorry, Jean,” his blue eyes were soft and warm. Apologetic and sorrowful. How could any human possess such expressions? _Marco’s gone. Now you’ll never see him again._ They seemed to say. _And I’m sorry._

He felt that gaze like a hot brand and let out a howl of pain, clutching the front of his tunic as he dropped to his knees. As if all the pain and hatred and anger he'd been feeling over the past days had hit him in a rush. A sob shook him as he lurched low, wings half spread and trembling. He held tight to the hand in his, something warm and reassuring in a seemingly cold world, hot tears dripping down his face. Every sob was a fresh burst of pain through his side, every burning breath set his heart on fire, and through all of it this stranger stood by. When he pulled his hand away Jean felt a spike of fear before it came to rest on his shoulder, rubbing the muscle there in gentle circles. 

Eren saw the towers of smoke easily, gliding towards them and flying between them and around them. He followed them up, circling back down almost playfully. He felt Jean before he saw him, felt the sadness in his heart and the sobs that shook his body. He landed, folding his wings as he walked towards them. _He's not going to take this well..._

“Armin…” he said his name and watched the boy look over. _He’s sensitive to us… he probably feels it._ He thought as he walked over. 

For many seeing one Avian was strange enough but _two_ was mind blowing. What they didn't realize was that neither man enjoyed the company of the other and Eren's approach was merely a formality. Eren stopped short, pleased to see that that Jean had someone to support him at least. “Jean.” His wings twitched, opening to a quarter length as Jean lifted his head. 

“You…” He whispered, anger filling his heart. “This is your fault…” He staggered up and spread his wings angrily. Eren circled him, backing away as Jean countered. “All of this is your fault if you-- if you weren’t such a--” he couldn’t finish it but Eren could feel his distaste. 

Armin had seen something like this before, two tomcats outside his house had fought brutally until one had slunk away into the darkness. They circled each other, eyes locked and hackles raised, each waiting for the other to strike. He wasn’t sure what to do… Jean was injured in any case and if they were going to fight it needed to be a fair fight. 

“I didn’t ask for this!” Eren told him, spreading his wings a little more. He wasn’t about to be intimidated by him. Not by a long shot. 

“You were captured! You let the humans take you! And Marco died!” He lunged for him but Eren flapped out of his path. “Now they--” 

“Burned them! Just as we would have!” Eren folded his wings and stayed out of Jean’s reached. “This is war, Jean!” 

“SO WHY AREN’T YOU FLYING?” Jean cried. “YOU COULD FLY RIGHT NOW!” 

Eren hesitated, shifting out of the way of another hit and fluttering away. “I… there’s something I have to do.” 

“What? WHAT? I always knew nothing good would come of you! I told the Queen this was a waste of time and look at you! YOU DON’T EVEN WANT TO LEAVE! ALL MY MEN DIED FOR YOU!” Jean swung again, too angry to properly aim. 

Eren glanced over at Armin. The boy was torn between stopping all this and waiting to see if it would burn itself out. “You’re injured and sick… I won’t fight you.” 

“Coward!” Jean spat. 

Eren couldn’t argue with that… he hadn’t been brave enough to just leave… to go and leave behind some people he had no real connection with. 

“You should have your wings taken! I’ll cut them off myself!” Jean grabbed for him again but a hand caught his arm. 

“That’s enough,” Levi said sharply and Jean recoiled. “The only person you have to blame for the death of your friend is the person who killed him. Even then this is a war. Death is expected. Your people know that as well as ours.” 

“Then why is he still alive? He’s an abomination!” Jean cried and Eren’s fist collided with his face so fast Levi couldn’t react. 

Everything after that was a flurry of rage and feathers and soldiers desperately trying to restrain Jean and Eren. Sparks of electromagnetic energy clashed between them, psychological warfare at its basest form, as they tore at each other with vicious teeth and fists. 

Eren remembered being physically lifted off Jean and carried, clawing, away from him. He beat his wings futilely, the figure holding him too heavy for him to lift without momentum in his blind rage. He would kill him if given the chance, rip the eagle limb from limb and wear his feathers for a crown. 

The next thing he knew he was being thrown into his room and manhandled. “Just what the fuck were you thinking? Letting him provoke you like that?” Levi’s voice was harsh and deep as his breath rushed across his face. “Did you think that was smart?” His hands on his arms were tight, perhaps tighter than they should have been, but now wasn’t the time for delicacy. “That display out there might cost you your life!” 

Eren jerked his head away, uncomfortable with the closeness. His brow was bleeding into his eye and the vicious bite on his shoulder was throbbing and all he wanted to do was sink into a hot bath and not think about this. About any of this. About how none of this would have happened if he’d have just… 

“LOOK AT ME!” Levi scolded and dragged his eyes to him. “I’m not going through all this trouble of keeping you alive for no reason! I won’t have you offering yourself up for humanity to sacrifice for no reason! What makes you who you are? Why were you caught? What happened?” He hadn’t spoken this much in so long. How could he impress upon this boy all the things he’d thought about him, all the questions he had for him? 

“I’m a mistake.” The words were so quiet that Levi had to lean in to hear them. Eren’s bangs blanketed his eyes as the captain released him… blood running cold. 

“What the hell do you mean by that?” 

“Mistake…” He murmured again and grabbed his arm. “I’m a mistake…” His shoulders trembled. “An abomination…” His chest heaved. “A monster.” He fell to his knees, wings opening to soften his fall, and Levi’s breath caught in his throat. Bathed in the sunset he was all halves. Dark and light, shadow and flame, man and beast. 

Levi reached out, touching the fold of his wing as he dropped to one knee. He had so many questions… but maybe now wasn’t the time. Levi let him lean on his shoulder, wings enveloping them. 

It was the first time he heard the hum of humanity. 

\--- 

Jean had returned to complacency once Eren was removed from his sight, easily led back to his room. The susurrus of his wings stirred ire in his keeper, sitting in a chair by him with his arms folded over his chest. “Are you just going to stare at me all day?” 

“I was starting to think Avians were kinder than we are…” Armin sounded a little disappointed. “But you’re just as cruel and horrible as humans.” 

“Don’t take Jaeger as an example. He’s a--” 

“Freak?” Armin finished angrily. “He’s an abomination? I heard you tell him that… are you just taking out your feelings on him or are you really that awful?” 

His mouth opened and closed, as if he wanted to answer but couldn’t. He covered his face with his hands and sighed heavily. “I can’t… even tell which bones are his…” He muttered. “I don’t know where he is in those pile of ashes.” 

“You blame Eren for his death…” 

“I do. If he wouldn’t have existed--” 

“Eren is a friend of mine.” There was warning in his voice. “What do you have against him anyway?” 

“He’s a damned troublemaker. We fledged together and he went through training with me… he’s just a smart mouth with no real talents.” He muttered. “But for some reason he still shows up all the time. The Queen adores him… I guess that’s because of…” he trailed off. 

“What is it that you all aren’t telling us?” Armin asked. “Something is happening here and everybody is dancing around it.” 

“She said… his usefulness would come to light in time… that we couldn’t understand it because… just because… you don’t ask questions of the Queen you just do as she asks. She has the good of the Roost in mind so I never bothered to question her.” 

“What’s going on, Jean?” Armin frowned. 

\--- 

“My parents met on accident,” Eren spoke as Levi dabbed at his eyebrow gently. “He was going to one of your city-states because a plague had broken out there and he got caught in an ambush.” Levi’s eyes were stormy as he listened, lifting an ice pack for Eren’s face as he sat next to him on the bed. “A raiding party saw them coming and unknowingly broke the treaty: no violence on medical convoys.” 

“I remember that… I was still a kid at the time…” Levi’s eyes darkened further. 

“My mother, a healer with the raiding party, was the one who recognized that it was a medical convoy and halted the attack. Unfortunately so many were dead…” Eren muttered. “It was all swept under the rug. By both sides. Nobody wanted to risk open war and so the convoy was written off as Missing-In-Action.” 

“Wait…” The pieces fell into place. 

“It wasn’t supposed to happen,” His voice broke. “They weren’t supposed to meet… if that raiding party wouldn’t have… she brought him to the Roost and… she was the Queen’s favorite. My mother had healed her bonded a few years before and they… were close friends so…” His eyes burned as he smoothed his sweaty hands against the filth covering his clothes. 

“You’re kidding…” his face was slack as Eren looked up at him. 

“My father left just after my mother died… he swore he’d… that he’d come back…” He trembled. “Sh-She was the kindest… I should have…” 

To think that he was looking at a creature the earth had never seen before. 

It was no wonder Jean had called him an abomination. 

A human hybrid? 

_It’s no surprise they kept this under wraps for all these years. To think that humans and Avians could mate…_ Levi caught his hand on his head gently. _He’s suffered because of this… to live only in one world and not experience the other… but to be so entirely different from both._ He pulled him into his embrace. 

All he’d wanted all his life was a place to belong… and now he was about to start a war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter won't be out until maybe Friday or Saturday guys, I know this is already really late and last week was a huge disappointment but just hang in there. The next chapter isn't going to be broken up I promise. It's really long and involves a lot more work because I'll be introducing a new section of storyline. So hang in there and drop by to tell me what you think if you want!
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: featherlight, thingsishouldntbedoing


	6. The fork in the road.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean learns the importance of knowing your enemy, Levi is delighted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As some of you know I had a super rough couple days and I thank you all so much for all the incredible support. Consider this chapter dedicated to you. <3
> 
> Send your thanks to windwolf0097 for this chapter even getting done because without her I wouldn't have kept writing.
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: featherlight, thingsishouldntbedoing

He was falling. 

Drifting. Drifting was a better word. His stomach was up in his heart as he wafted this way and that, taking a heat pocket hard and dropping sharply. It cast warmth over him, almost suffocatingly so, and he tried to take in a breath. Why couldn’t he breathe? 

Panic began to fill his chest. What was happening? What was this weight on his chest? 

Levi woke sharply, “Hnng!” He cracked an eye to find a peacefully sleeping Avian curled on top of him, wings folded and fluffed. With each rise and fall of his chest Eren shifted just slightly to stay on top, nuzzling against the crown of his ribcage. _When did we fall asleep?_ He remembered talking to him, vaguely remembered something about… 

He was a hybrid. 

That much was clear at least, even if nothing else seemed to be. He knew he’d have to tell Hanji, that she’d prod the kid with every test imaginable, that he’d never escape scrutiny ever again. He gave half a thought to keeping it a secret. It wasn’t really his secret to tell… but his loyalty to Erwin was tantamount to a religion. _This has produced a conflict of interest for me._ He thought as he watched the boy’s eyes twitch beneath hooded lids. “What the hell do I do now?” 

Eren’s eyes shuttered open curiously, something milky sliding fluidly over his eyes. He blinked normally a few times, nictitating membrane still pulled over his eyes tiredly. “Mmm?” He almost purred, wings fluffing a little more as he recognized the person he was sleeping on. God he looked happy. “Hi…” He sat up, wings fluttering. “I’m sorry I must have been heavy.” 

“Fucking crushing me,” Levi breathed more easily, looking up at him. He was falling. When the hell did that happen? “You weren’t that bad… don’t look at me like that.” Oh the way those eyes made him feel. 

“I’m sorry I don’t know why I slept on you… I guess you were warm,” he fluttered up and off the bed. It was so seamless, the way he worked, his extra limbs were simply extensions of himself that fluttered and cascaded with each movement. “What’s going on today?” 

“Movement to the capital,” Levi replied softly and sat up. “The higher ups want to see you.” 

“About… what I told you?” Eren asked and took a step back when Levi walked towards him, smoothing his rumpled shirt. “What are you going to do about it?” 

“You told me that in confidence. Obviously the Avians have known otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” He reached out quickly and stroked his fingers through his coverts and watched an almost imperceptible shiver run through the boy. It was the first time Eren had let him touch his wings, even if he had tried to retreat slightly. 

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Eren murmured as his hand combed through his pinions with gentle fingers, closing his eyes and letting out a low noise in the back of his throat. 

“I haven’t decided yet, I’ll make that decision when we get to the capital I don’t want Hanji getting her hands on you without my supervision.” Eren finally had the sense to draw away shyly only to see the glint in Levi’s eyes. _Why does he keep looking at me that way? What does he want?_

“Get dressed, I will see you when we ride in.” He turned and picked up his jacket. 

_Who were you before this?_ Eren wondered as he watched him go. _Who are you now?_

\--- 

“Hey! Four eyes what the hell are you doing out here?” Levi’s voice echoed in the hallway, spotting her scribbling in her notebook. 

Her face lit up when she saw him, “Levi I think I’m coming close to a discovery!” 

“Saints… I’m going to jump out a window.” He walked off with her tailing him. 

“I think I’m starting to understand Avian mating patterns! At first I thought they had heats, the way that dogs and cats do because--” 

“Oi why do I care about this?” 

“I… you spent the night with him didn’t you?” She watched him visibly bristle. “I just assumed--” There was violence in his eyes as he turned his head to look at her. 

“I will end you if you ever suggest that again.” 

“So you… didn’t?” 

“No Hanji I don’t…” he hesitated for a moment and watched her eyes glitter. “I’m not talking to you about this.” 

“If you do plan on it just remember that they have very specific mating rituals, you have to jump through a few hoops to get into bed with them… and I don’t think they’ve ever accepted a human into their beds.” 

“I wish you’d just stop talking forever,” he heard her laugh. 

“If you do court him can I watch?” 

“Shitlicker if you say another word I will decapitate you.” He scolded and she grinned. 

"Let me know if you need to know anything~" 

"Shut the fuck up," he stalked off and her grin only widened. 

\--- 

Jean looked out the window, hands bound between his legs, as Armin glanced through papers on his lap. “So what are you going to do about it?” He asked and the blonde looked up at him. 

“I haven’t decided yet.” 

“Are you still angry with me?” 

“Well you flew off the handle and got into a fight with someone I like,” Armin told him patiently. 

Jean sighed, “Look kid we’re strangers so you can’t understand this but… we’re different species even… but this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Eren.” 

“It would have happened anyway. Sometimes people are supposed to die and you know what?” He shied when Armin’s voice turned cold. “This world is final. Everything that we do and say in it can never be removed and all you can do is hope that the things you say and do will be remembered whether right or wrong. You can’t bring back the dead, you can’t regret that their death happened because if you do it will never stop. You will forever question your actions and your choices because that person died. You can’t stop people from giving their lives, all you can do is use the time that you were given with them.” 

Jean dropped his head, closing his eyes. “What if I forget?” 

“You’ll never forget, not really. You might forget from day to day, maybe he won’t show up in your thoughts all the time, maybe a smell won’t remind you of him, maybe you’ll be able to love someone else, maybe you’ll even wake up one morning and you won’t remember his face and the person you fell for is all that matters,” Armin murmured. 

“Have you lost someone?” Jean asked softly. 

“I’ve lost a lot of people,” Armin replied. “A very close friend of mine died when we were children, I have no family, all I have is the memories of them.” 

Jean swallowed hard, “I’m… sorry…” 

“It’s fine… just know that those people would want you to keep doing your best, would want you to try your hardest to…” He clenched his fingers into the fabric of his pants. “Just… try not to forget.” He couldn’t say much more, looking out the window. “Because you’re lucky.” 

“How?” 

“You get to see what’s behind these walls. You can be free and see everything I can only imagine,” Armin’s eyes were clear and bright. 

Jean watched him with refreshed eyes. _This is the person who convinced Eren to stay, I just feel it._

\--- 

Eren’s knees bumped against Levi’s and he wondered why his keeper had to sit with his knees so wide. “What’s wrong brat?” Levi asked, leaning on his fist boredly. 

“Huh?” 

“I asked what’s wrong?” He said again. “Damn you like making me repeat myself.” 

“I don’t know I just wish I understood everything, you know? I wish I knew a lot more than I do.” 

“Don’t we all. Sometimes it’s too far above our pay grade to see everything coming,” Levi looked over at him. 

“Why am I not chained up this time?” Eren asked. 

“You sure do like being tied up kid.” 

“I-- why do you have to be like that I just asked a question.” 

“You’re talking to me a lot lately.” 

“You’re always here!” Eren ruffled his feathers and shuffled to the corner of his bench. 

“I am, aren’t I? Well I’m your caretaker. Who would keep an eye on you if it wasn’t me?” He wondered aloud. 

“I can keep an eye on myself, I’m not going anywhere like you said,” Eren muttered. 

“How did you get caught?” Levi asked. 

“That’s… that’s none of your business.” He flushed and looked away. 

“It must be one hell of a story if those two idiots caught you, I’d like to hear that.” He watched Eren with interest, face lifting slightly when the Avian flicked at the hem of his shirt. 

“I made a stupid decision, that’s all,” Eren said softly. “I thought I’d be smart and try and see inside the walls. It’s all I’ve wanted since I was little… I wanted to see if the people here really did walk on their feet like children.” 

“Children?” Levi furrowed his brows and Eren lifted his head. 

“Yes didn’t you know? Avian children don’t have wings. They’re born without them.” He seemed almost surprised. 

“Really?” Levi leaned forward with interest. “You’re telling me that for the first few years of life…” 

“No different. They even develop the same,” Eren smiled. “There are obviously some differences but they’re slight… once they hit puberty they fledge.” 

Levi searched his face, as if he didn’t believe him, “That’s what you all mean when you say fledging? What happens?” 

“They sprout, like anything else? It’s kind of painful and sometimes they don’t grow in right and they have to be cut out.” 

“That’s pretty intense… was yours different?” Levi caught his hand on his knee, finally giving up on resisting. 

“A little… I fledged a little earlier than most. My dad was almost afraid I wouldn’t,” he glanced down at his hand but didn’t say anything. 

“You are fucking weird.” His eyes glinted. “You don’t hate humans, do you?” 

“Yes and no.” 

“That’s a good answer,” he smiled and watched Eren’s eyes flicker to his lips. 

“You never smile.” 

“Maybe I do.” 

Close quarters, the velvety scent of Levi’s body, the intensity of his gaze… everything was making Eren dizzy. “Then why do people never see?” 

“Maybe I really don’t want them to,” their lips met and Eren closed his eyes. He’d been expecting this all this time, but not the hand curling into his hair or the other sliding up his knee. 

Levi nipped his bottom lip, delving his tongue into his mouth and all Eren could think about was how warm and velvety his tongue was. He moaned against him as his thumb brushed the inside of his thigh, tasting peppermint tea on that tongue that tangled with his, lifting his arms to wrap them around his neck. Something twisted in his gut, heat spilling into his veins as he tried to kiss him back; sloppy and innocent but trying desperately hard. 

Levi smiled against his mouth, sucking his tongue lightly as he flirted his fingers against the edge of his hip, relishing the moan that bubbled up from the Avian’s throat. This he could get used to, but the sudden wave of pleasure that washed over him made him almost nauseated. What the fuck was that? The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck prickled and he drew away, pupils blown wide. 

“I-I’m sorry…” Eren’s lips were moist and slick and all Levi could think about was what it’d feel like to have them wrapped around his cock and another hit of intoxicating heat made his senses tingle. “S-Stop thinking!” He was scarlet as he hid his face behind his hands. 

“What the hell is happening?” 

“I-I didn’t mean to! I just… I wanted to know what you were… I uh…” Eren’s face was so hot he thought he might have been steaming. “I-It’s… you were so open and receptive and I just… w-wanted to listen…” 

Affection hit him like a spike in the heart, this kid was fucking adorable. “That’s… what you were talking about?” 

“S-Sex and… it’s all a part of this thing and I… your emotions were just so powerful…” He was so confused, so aroused, so fucking _adorable_. 

“Oh shit this is going to be difficult isn’t it?” He muttered and rested their foreheads together, catching his face in his hands. 

“I-I’m sorry I just… uhm…” Eren swallowed hard. “There’s a lot that goes into this… that humans don’t understand.” 

“Well you’ll have to teach me.” 

Those turquoise eyes looked up at him, innocent and wide. _Will he look at me like that the first time I come in his mouth?_

“P-PLEASE DON’T THINK THINGS LIKE THAT!” Eren nearly flailed and Levi _laughed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big ass thanks to all of you for sticking around this long, enjoy this chapter I love all of you and see you next week!
> 
> Title inspired by "Follow My Feet" by The Unlikely Candidate


	7. Pay the price for my affliction.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What are the Avians? Armin makes a stupid decision. Levi begins his preparations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow so this fic has been getting noticed a lot lately so I'm super sorry I've been so absent! The schedule's up on my tumblr if you'd like to know when the next update is!
> 
> We're starting to build into the real exposition, I tried to get a good description of the Avians and their garb this time around since the situation afforded it.
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: featherlight, thingsishouldntbedoing

Their arrival was met with near panic. The inner walls had heard of the Avian attack, of the rush of feathers that had brought doom to an entire platoon of soldiers, and their fear was building the longer they were given to talk about it. 

So it wasn’t unexpected that the walk into the courthouse was a tedious one, crowds on both sides careening for a view of the winged beasts. 

Though they weren’t exactly what they’d expected. 

Harpies, winged beasts with the face of a hawk and crests of feathers on their heads. Taloned monsters with angled legs and mutated spines. They were maneaters, child stealers, unholy demons with no pupils and sharp teeth. Their wings had claws, feathers were matted and caked with the blood of a million men, they wore human skin for clothes and hair for laces. 

That was what they wanted. 

A nightmare. 

What they got were creatures that looked nothing like the stories they’d heard as children. Jean’s chains rattled as Mikasa helped him out of his carriage, Armin following shortly, his eagle wings fluttering in the soft breeze. He was majestic to say the least, taller than the average human with hawk’s eyes that picked up every movement of humanity. The crowds fell quiet as he looked upon them, tilting his chin up proudly. 

Instead of a crest of feathers there was hair in colors that matched the edges of his wings, light strands against the dark undercut at the back of his head. His tunic was the light grey of a knight, wool edges pulled over his shoulders and sleeves tight around the shape of his arms. The delicate embroidery was cream against the grey, shimmering with each movement. 

Where his wings met his back dark feathers smoothed into light skin, muscle thick at the angles of his shoulderblades. The whole of his back was exposed, the hard ridges of his spine set elegant beneath pale skin until it disappeared beneath the laced cloth holding it together; power embodied. He spread his wings just slightly and the sleek black feathers glistened, white pinions sparkling in the morning sun. 

“Angel!” A child’s voice said in the quiet, reaching for him. “Angel!” She said it again and Jean’s face softened. Her mother pulled her into her skirts, covering her mouth, and the sound of the crowd began again; their temporary silence broken. 

The buzz of humanity surrounded him and he turned his head sharply as he heard someone catcall, nictitating membrane sliding across his eyes. He gave a fierce scowl and the man stepped back. Jean wasn’t about to allow these humans to disrespect him. 

Eren walked placidly alongside Levi, wings quirked at a curious angle as people whispered to each other. He was unlike Jean, shorter with tall colorful wings, messy brown hair hanging past his eyes. His tanned skin molded into white feathers on his shoulders, exposed through the gaping cowl of the back of his shirt. His green tunic was longer than Jean’s, belted around his hips with a colorful sash, the intricate embroidery a pale pink. His brown pants weren’t any different, however, tight around his legs but soft enough to stretch when his knees bent. 

He was beautiful in a different way. He wasn’t intimidating the way that Jean was; instead he was a stunning combination of colors and fluttering wings whose feathers seemed to change color with each prismatic shift of light. He was breathtaking with his proud shoulders and clear eyes. 

“Hi…” he grinned at the little boy that reached out to stroke his fingers through his feathers. 

“Don’t touch him!” His mother chided and Eren felt his heart sink, drawing away as he passed. 

“I hate humans,” Eren muttered and Levi’s face darkened. Being led into the courtroom was a new experience in and of itself, the beautiful marble and mahogany tidings cast his breath aside like a curtain. _What a beautiful place for such an ugly task._ Levi could almost hear the thoughts of the Avian beside him, looking over at the grim emerald gaze that cast itself around the room. From the intricately carved banisters to the rising columns of angel’s bodies and weeping justices the guilt of the room reeked from every pore. _They trap you here. Make you twist your words._

\--- 

Ymir ran her fingers through the fresh waters of the fountains, plucking a lily from the gardens beside. “What are you thinking about?” She heard the soft voice of her bonded, glancing over curiously. 

“I was thinking about what we were meant for,” Ymir said vaguely. “What our kind is.” 

“And what is that?” Christa asked, beautiful blue and brown wings fluttering as she rose gracefully from her seat. 

“Hmmm that is a harder question to answer than you’d think,” she smiled as the smaller woman pressed her face between her wing joints and wrapped her arms around her waist. “You’re late,” she knew when they had arrived before they even took a breath. 

“We apologize, they moved Jaeger and Kirchstein into the inner city today,” a woman replied. Her grey and black wings were reminiscent of a pigeon’s wings, broad and flat. 

“Did they… and you know this for sure?” Ymir asked curiously as the trio lined up before her, kneeling with one wing spread gracefully. 

“Yes, they are taking Eren Jaeger to the courthouse to be tried and witnessed. It looks a lot like a carnival than a real trial,” a man replied. His blonde hair was matched by the tinges of gold and brown in his albatross wings. There was a seriousness to his face that wasn’t present in that of the dark haired man beside him, in fact there seemed to be a smile on the third man’s face. 

“Is something amusing, Bertholdt?” Ymir asked him and he shook his head pleasantly. 

“No it’s just that the humans are so cute.” 

“How so?” 

“They think they can fight us, when they can’t even leave their cities. They can’t fly.” But his smile faded and his heron wings twitched as Ymir stared him down. 

“Bertie I thought you were kinder than that…” she mused and peeled Christa away from her, walking towards the springs of the gardens as she dragged her fingers through her bonded’s hair. “There are many things only I will know, and many things you will only guess at… but I have… been thinking of late that it is time we concern ourselves with something else.” 

“What?” Annie asked, straightening up as Reiner glanced at Bertholdt. 

“Do you know how the Avians came to be? What we were put on this Earth for?” Christa’s face had darkened, watching the Queen seriously. Something was happening within her bonded, something she couldn’t explain. 

“To be free!” Annie chanted with the other two, saluting to the Queen. 

When she smiled vaguely Christa flew over to her, “My Queen what is bothering you?” The warrior queen had never acted quite like this before… not, at least, since Christa had known her. “Ymir?” She whispered. _Why can’t I hear her?_

“To be _bound_ ,” Ymir corrected. 

“How… do you mean?” Reiner frowned and Bertholdt became suspicious. 

“I have never told anyone this before, and there is a reason… but you four must carry out the task of bearing this burden… for our time is coming to an end… and the hours of peace are falling far behind,” Her face darkened. 

“You’re starting to worry me,” Christa told her, capturing her hands in hers. The elegant swan’s wings the Queen bore fluttered. 

“Perhaps that is a good thing. It may be time, now, for us to worry,” Ymir’s reply made them all frown. 

\--- 

“Hey,” Levi greeted Hanji and she blinked. 

“What’s the matter did I do something?” She sounded suspicious. “They’ve released them for the day why are you here?” 

“Tell me what I have to do.” 

“Tell you what you have to do to do what?” Hanji asked. 

“Don’t make me say it again, shitty glasses.” 

“You’re pleasant today, are you talking about Eren?” 

“I’m not fucking asking again, dicklicker.” 

“Okay, okay, I can tell you’re not in much of a gaming mood,” She smiled. “Are you serious about this? You know it’ll be hard to get him to accept you…” 

“Hanji I’m going to strangle you,” his fingers twitched. 

“Okay _okay_.” She caught the back of his neck and led him off with a giggle. “We’re going to have so much fun~” 

\--- 

“Wow…” Armin peeled the bandages off his wing to change them, furrowing his brows. “The feathers are all grown back…” 

“Yeah they don’t take long, honestly,” Jean hummed and fluttered his wings thoughtfully. “Have you ever wanted to fly?” He asked as he looked out the window at the stars. 

“What?” 

“You’re pretty small, I could carry you easily if… you wanted to fly.” Jean offered. “I need to stretch my wings, I’ve been too cramped lately.” 

And that was how Armin found himself up on the highest tower they could find, nervously looking at the city below. “Are you sure this is going to be okay?” 

“As long as we don’t get shot down? Yeah,” Jean stretched his wings. “You talked your way through that pretty easily. I was almost afraid those guards were going to stop us: ‘for his health’ you’re a genius.” His happiness crackled against Armin’s skin, bright and fresh from this person who had spent the past week in a deep depression. 

“I just… I mean it is true… won’t your wings get weak if you walk everywhere?” Armin swallowed when the Avian neared him. 

“You’re right and it’s been far too long,” Jean grinned. “Are you ready? We’re going to get into a lot of trouble.” 

“I never get in trouble, I’ll just explain it,” Armin answered breathlessly. “Levi saw us… he’d say something.” _I never take risks… but is this the one I want to take?_

Jean’s hands were more powerful than he was expecting when he lifted him by the harness, letting him wrap his legs around his waist. It was such an intimate distance, scintillating in its nearness. “Hold on tight, then.” Armin suddenly regretted his decision, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck and burying his face in his shoulder as the Avian ran. 

“Maybe this is a bad IDEA!” They dropped off at a sheer dive and for one terrifying second Armin thought: _We’re going to die._

Then they stopped falling and were jerked back by the billowing of massive wings. He couldn’t open his eyes, terrified as they were jerked and jostled with each beat… and then they were gliding. 

“ _Open your eyes_ …” Armin knew he wasn’t speaking, they didn’t while they were flying, and it was all he could do to hope that Jean heard him. 

“ _I’m scared_.” It wasn’t like anything he’d ever experienced. This was nothing like the smooth movement of the maneuver gear or the trusted grapple he worked so well with. He was suspended on nothingness, wrapped around a creature whose every movement changed the course of their flight. 

“ _Is that the reason why humans stay behind these walls_?” Then he was opening his eyes to look up at the eagle-eyed man above him, searching his face. 

“ _Because we’re scared_ ,” Armin turned his head to look out over the city, breathtaken. “ _Scared to live._ ” 

It was the first time Armin heard the hum of humanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This one was kinda shitty and short too I'm sorry it's just getting into the exposition.
> 
> Chapter title from "The Lock Down Denial" by Cute Is What We Aim For.


	8. I have often dreamed of a far off place.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things are finally revealed, the beginnings of plot, sad excuse for humor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this chapter was kinda late today! I procrastinated a wee bit~ Anyway here's a much better chapter than we've had in the past, at least to my taste, so I hope you guys enjoy and know that the next chapter will be super extra EreRi fluffy that we've only begun to taste here!
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: featherlight

“You’re shitting me? They give each other body parts?” He sounded incredulous. 

“ _No_ it’s called down! Down feathers like the stuff they make pillows and stuff out of!” Hanji said happily. “Parts of themselves is what I said! They take the down they pluck through the year and store it in bags to make pads out of; they’re so beautiful I’ve seen some sketches of them! These blankets filled with their own down to comfort the ones they love~ it’s so romantic.” 

“Hanji if I pluck out my pubes and make a pillow for you would you really enjoy that?” 

At least that shut her up. 

“You shouldn’t be so culturally insensitive,” she chided, “You’re the one trying to woo an Avian~” 

“Yes you keep telling me that but the more I hear out of your mouth the less likely I am to do it,” Levi sighed. “Couldn’t you just find me an Av--” He stood up sharply and knocked his chair over. 

“Levi?” Hanji blinked as he walked out of the room. 

“Levi!” The Captain froze stock still in his trek as he heard his Commander’s voice. _Hell_. He turned and greeted Erwin with a salute to his chest. “I was wondering where you went, I take it the boy is doing well?” 

Levi had been avoiding him. 

To be honest the last thing he wanted to do was look his Commander in the eye at this moment but he held his chin high and stared him down, “Yes he is.” 

“Good, our superiors still want to question them both but that will be tonight.” 

“Yes, Commander.” 

“Also I need you to speak with Arlert, apparently his charge was out flying last night?” Erwin scowled. 

Levi nodded sharply. He had seen them pass by but he’d figured the boy wasn’t about to let an enemy soldier out about about with… obviously he’d been wrong. 

“Is there anything you need to report to me?” Levi’s lips parted and Erwin’s blue eyes narrowed. For a moment Levi felt as though his Commander could see straight through him. _I can’t lie to Erwin. The boy’s not worth it._ His hesitation was more than enough to tell him that he was a damned fool, going through all this trouble for whatever fucking mating ritual the boy wanted him to do… It was all worthless in the end because the moment the words were out of his mouth he’d be done for… 

How could he be asked to break Erwin’s trust? 

“Erwin there’s something I have to tell you,” Levi’s face darkened. 

\--- 

“I’m sorry…” Jean said softly as Armin twiddled the envelope between his fingers and sighed. 

“It’s not your fault, it just means I’ll be investigated.” 

“They think you’re a traitor?” 

“I’m sure even your people would be suspicious,” Armin replied with a sigh. 

“Probably,” Jean agreed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Was it worth it?” 

That was a difficult question. Was it worth being investigated in order to have the chance to see the city below? Was it worth the fear of losing what little livelihood the military provided? 

“I think so,” Armin nodded. 

They had been spotted by archers in the bright moonlight above the city, not that they hadn’t expected it, but the chance to gaze upon the source of the hum of humanity was worth any danger it presented. To Armin it was a chance to understand the Avians in a way that no one else could. 

“Yes I’m sure sure of it, I think I understand you better now.” 

Jean’s face was one of astonishment as he looked upon this boy in a new light. He had the feeling he was the reason all along that Eren had stayed, but perhaps didn’t understand it yet. “You remind me a lot of Marco.” 

“Marco? Your bonded?” Armin couldn’t decide if he was more flattered or confused. 

“He was kind like you, he wanted to understand the humans and their ways, I suppose he wanted to understand the war itself and the reasons behind it,” Jean’s golden eyes saddened, “And now having been among you for this time I’m starting to understand him better than I could have before.” 

“Him? But don’t the Avians have some kind of connection with their bonded?” Armin asked curiously. 

“In a way. We can feel what they feel and see what they see but it’s not the same as being inside of them and knowing or hearing what they think or believe. That becomes counterproductive to individual thought. I think it’s said that the Queen can read all of us; that she knows everything we know at all times,” Jean hummed. 

“That sounds a little terrifying,” Armin searched his eyes. He had never thought of that before, how scary it would be to have someone know your most intimate thoughts and feelings. For a while it had been a brilliant thought, to be able to know what someone wanted or what they felt about something without even having to ask. It would be a benefit in many ways. But perhaps it was more trouble than it was worth. 

“Have you ever listened before?” 

“I… yeah I think so…” Armin thought back to the time when he able to see the oceans through the eyes of a man he barely knew. He could still conjure up the feelings it had given him, run his fingers through the water and smell the salt in the air and feel the heat of the sun on his wings. 

Jean was watching him when he realized he’d slipped into the memories once more, so easily and comfortably… as if he’d spent hours drifting in and out of them without a second thought. Perhaps he did without even realizing it; “I’m sorry were you… saying something?” Those eagle eyes were intense, making him feel as if Jean were trying to see into his very soul. 

“Was it Eren?” He asked curiously. “Is that where you got those memories from? He connected with you?” 

Armin flushed under his stare, “I uhm… yes when I met him for the first time…” 

“I see…” Jean leaned his elbows on his knees and folded his forehead against his hands. “I wish I understood what was happening.” 

Armin reached out and touched the thatch of hair atop his head, curling his fingers into it, “I think we all do but Eren’s the one that has to tell us.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“You know as well as I do that Eren’s not like either of us. He’s something special…” Jean lost himself in those pools of blue, as beautiful and clear as the deepest lake he’d ever seen, as bright as the sky he yearned to fly through… so full of emotion and life and joy. 

“You are a strange human,” he murmured. “Why do you trust him?” 

“How do I ask if I can kiss you in Avian?” Armin asked softly in reply and Jean flushed against his pale cheekbones. 

“You… you don’t have to ask me, I knew your intent bef--” He didn’t kiss anything like Marco, no the hints of teeth on his bottom lip were new and exciting, his mouth soft and sweet. _Marco_. He caught his fingers into the other man’s blonde hair and opened his mouth into the kiss; he was good. The little sucks to his lips and nips to his tongue left him breathless, the fingers that worked the fabric of his tunic down over his arms just slightly to trace against the firm skin of his neck made him shiver. 

“Wait I… not here…” Jean interrupted and the spell was broken, catching his hand against the human’s face. “Not here not now…” 

Jean could almost see the cogs working in that brilliant head of his, “You’re right.” He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and Jean’s heart ached. _Is doing this wrong?_ Marco had been his bonded, his one true love, the one person who knew everything about him yet… 

“Give me time, to figure this out,” he requested and Armin nodded. 

“Whatever you need.” 

\--- 

Eren looked over his shoulder as his door opened, heart leaping, he’d hoped it’d be Levi but… “Mikasa.” 

“Hello Eren,” she smiled softly and Eren’s eyes brightened. 

“I haven’t seen you since we were at the castle, how are you?” He leapt up and fluttered his wings, fluffing his feathers excitedly. It had been longer than he’d hoped it would be, they never did get to finish their talk and… all he wanted was to learn more about this mysterious girl. If it wasn’t going to be Levi then he was glad it was Mikasa. 

“I’m fine, I should be asking you that,” she was happy to see him bright and cheerful. “I’m sorry about all of this, Eren.” 

“About all of what? The trial and interrogation? It’s nothing really, to be expected from people at war I suppose. I’m being treated better than Jean,” he smiled. 

“Ah yes but I… I just don’t like the way they treat you is all, you’re too kind.” 

“I was a raging monster when I got here, if you remember?” 

“You were scared. I’d be the same way, now you’re more rational.” 

“If you say so, I’m still angry but I don’t want to get shot down as soon as I fly out,” he turned to look out the windows again. “I miss it, Mikasa, flying over the grasslands and seeing the deer running below me… I don’t want to be bound.” 

“Nobody does, do they? But here we are… humans are trapped behind these walls; bound to our fate.” 

“I feel the tides changing,” Eren murmured as she stood next to him. “Something is different but I’m not sure what… I can almost feel a change in the winds…” 

“I think it’s you that’s different, you’re the change, Eren.” Her silver eyes searched the side of his face, tracing the hard edge of his jaw and angle of his nose, he was a sculpture in marble. 

“What?” 

“You’re the person that’s changing everyone, you’ve come here and in a matter of weeks we’ve come this far… I can feel it the same as you, that there’s something more here,” her fingers slipped into his and he felt a warmth spread into his hand. 

“Is there… you think there’s more to me then?” He wondered as he looked down at her. 

“There is more to you than even you know, I think,” she said softly. “Once there was a little girl whose family was caught by raiders… when she didn’t think there was any hope an angel appeared; a boy with green stained wings. He saved her…” The way his green eyes softened, the way his lips quirked in surprise… all of it was new and familiar to her. “And she’s spent all these years desperately looking for him…” 

\--- 

“Ymir?” Her eyes fluttered open and Christa felt relieved, resting her chin on her chest. “You fell asleep for a moment.” 

“Were we talking?” The Queen tangled her fingers into Christa’s hair, fingers gliding down the bare skin of her back. 

“You were saying something about the great serpent…” She watched her bonded’s eyes flicker maliciously at the mention. 

“It’s just a bedtime story, Christa,” she sighed and dropped her head back into the pillows before tangling her arms around her. “Don’t fret.” 

“Then why do I hear you talk about it in your dreams? What is this beast?” 

“It’s the reason we were created, Christa, and we have done a poor job of defending against it…” 

“You keep… saying things like that… that we were meant to be bound or that we’re doing a poor job… poor job at what? What were we meant to do? You only said a little the other day…” She traced circles on the hard surface of her collarbone. 

“Tomorrow, Christa.” 

“No! You can’t do this to me again.” 

“I’m tired.” 

“That’s always your excuse.” 

“Why would I want to worry you with these thoughts, you heartless woman? Not even letting the Queen get her sleep?” Ymir began to smile. 

“Because I’m yours… and I need to know… I have to know what troubles you.” Christa’s deep brows were set hard. 

Ymir let out a long sigh and closed her eyes again, “I will need time to prepare the story for you. I swear in a few days… in just a few days I’ll tell you.” 

“Promise?” 

“I swear on my nobility.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COME BACK NEXT WEEK FOLKS. 
> 
> Chapter title from "Go the Distance" from Disney's Hercules.


	9. No value in the strength of walls that I have.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of an origin story. Levi has a brilliant idea. Mikasa finally hugs her hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually incredibly hard to write. I'M SO SORRY IT'S LATE IT JUST HAPPENS SOMETIMES. More notes at the end so I don't spoil.
> 
> Chapter title from "Lover of the Light" by Mumford and Sons.
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: featherlight

Fires flickered in front of his face, casting lights across his vision as he ran, wings fluttering weakly beneath his cloak. _I have to get out of here._ He panted heavily as the torch neared, throwing himself behind a box. 

“Psst!” He jerked his head around and the boy nearby reached his hand out. “I can show you the way, come on!” Eren reached out and caught his fingers. 

“Armin you’ll get in trouble,” panic build in his chest as the blonde led him through the dark streets as silent as a mouse, “How did you find me?” 

“I saw you leave, I’m sorry,” the boy was visibly shaking with his hand clutched to the throat of his grey cloak. “I wondered where you’d been… why are they chasing you?” 

“Because I’m a monster,” Eren replied softly, jerking Armin back when soldiers on maneuver gears zipped by. “Armin you can’t do this.” _Why do I have to leave?_

“I’m just going to lead you close to the gate and then you can fly out… right?” Armin didn’t seem to realize the danger he was walking in to, nor did he seem to care. 

“Armin you’re going to be in a lot of trouble,” the dark haired boy couldn’t warn him enough. Between the gates slowly rising to allow the Scouting Legion back in and the Garrison not far behind them and above them… “I’m going to try and fly out.” _Why am I this way?_

“No Eren!” Armin jerked him and started running between the houses as a shout came from above them. 

“Why are you doing this?” Heavy boots thundered on rooftops and along the damp streets, a million empty echoes. _What am I?_

“One day you can pay me back!” The blonde’s smile brightened the clouded night and Eren felt his heart lift. 

\--- 

Levi shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his pants. People passed by him without a second glance, green cloak billowing out as a stiff wind blew through him. To the eyes of onlookers he seemed deep in thought, brows set heavily over dark eyes, he passed his hand over the back of his neck before glancing along the shops. 

_“Erwin there’s something I have to tell you,” Levi’s face darkened._

_“What is it, Levi?” Erwin seemed interested and for a long moment Levi stood before him, body torn between telling the truth and lying blatantly to the face of his superior._ You brought this on yourself. 

_“It’s about the Avians.”_

He slowed as he passed a small textile shop, drawn in by something in the window. Dark blues and greens against scarlet and gold made his senses tingle. _I don’t know what I’d do with it._ He traced the lines of the serpent with his eyes, coiled loosely around a figure with outstretched wings. One black and one white. 

A bell rang somewhere in the shop when he walked in, reaching to touch his fingers to the soft fabric of the tapestry. “Interested in that, are you?” He jumped when the young woman walked out from behind the desk. “My grandmother wove it a few years ago.” 

“I was just wondering what it was,” he could see flames and smoke against the outlines of the combatants, disintegrating walls against a starless sky. 

“She says it’s from a story _her_ grandmother used to tell. About a boy that fought a huge snake. I wish I remembered more of it, it’s been a few years since she passed away,” the girl sighed sadly. 

“A boy that fought a snake,” he echoed. “I’d like to buy it.” 

She seemed startled, “Wh-What? It’s… the most expensive blanket in the shop wouldn’t you… rather something else?” She stuttered and he set her with a stare. “I-I mean it’s just that… people have asked for it before and it’s--” 

“Money is no object. Tell me what you want me to pay,” he insisted. 

It wasn’t long before she was gently folding the blanket up and packaging it for him, apparently in shock over just what he was willing to pay to possess the thing. 

“Hey,” he paused at the door. 

“Yes?” She sounded breathless with excitement. 

“About the boy… did he win?” He asked curiously. 

“Oh uhm… no I think he died,” she smiled helpfully, “There aren’t really happy endings in those old stories.” 

_“I think we may be looking at them wrong. I suggest that on the next expedition we take the Avians with us.” Levi said._

_“You want to go to the Roost?” Erwin blinked. “It’s suicide.”_

_“Not to fight, I just want to see it.” Levi’s eyes flickered. “Eren can get me in.”_

\--- 

“Promise… promise you’ll come back.” 

“I promise,” Eren told him as he heard a bullet slide into the chamber of a gun, the sounds of hoofbeats and whirring maneuver gears, the beating of a million hearts around them. _I don’t want to leave._

“EREN PROMISE!” Armin shivered in the drizzle as tears dripped down his face, their hands wound together. 

“I PROMISE!” He shoved him away and threw his cloak off, the wings too big for his body spreading in their molting glory as his scarlet scarf fluttered in the motion. The soldiers were stunned as he struggled into the air, unpractice and ungainly, but instinct took him soon as he was above their heads. _Armin_. He didn’t dare to look back. _“Whatever you do don’t look behind you.”_ His fathers words echoed sharp in his mind as he focused on the gate, trying to ignore the terror in his heart. 

_If they close the gate before I get out I’ll die._ He bit back tears as he narrowly whirled out of the way of a soldier, nearly crashing into a clock tower as he righted. 

“SHOOT HIM DOWN!” He heard the fear and anger in the voices of the sergeants. 

“Captain,” the Commander said as they rode in through the gates. They could see the Avian land, unused to the strain on his muscle, short brown hair damp in the rainstorm. Lightening cast across the sky, setting his face in sharp relief as the one who was spoken to pulled his hood up. 

“I see him,” he was off his horse and gliding without a second breath. 

Eren flapped his wings desperately as he heard a maneuver gear near. _Please please please!_ He sobbed helplessly, limbs too weak to fly. 

_“EREN! YOU PROMISED!”_ He heard Armin’s voice as if he were right beside him and it shook him. 

The hooded figure came from nowhere as Eren looked over his shoulder. _No._ He set his jaw and moved just as the Captain tried to pin his wings. _No I can’t give up._ His eyes flickered with light as he shifted around to his feet and fell backwards off the tower with the man not far behind, determination set on his shadowed face as his hood blew back. 

\--- 

“You think I saved you?” Eren asked softly and Mikasa nodded. “I… I can barely remember anything from when I was a kid really…” 

“I think you did, anyway, he looked a lot like you with short brown hair…” she murmured. “And who else has wings like you?” 

“I’m not sure… if I really did help you, Mikasa, then it was a good thing,” he smiled at her and she felt her heart lift. “You’ve become a good friend.” 

“I always… wanted to meet you,” she hugged him, wrapping her arms around his waist, ignorant of the spatial difference between humans and Avians… but when his arms and wings curled around her warmth spilled into her heart. “I always wanted to thank you,” her eyes burned as she buried her face against his chest. “Thank you… you gave me a reason to live.” 

Eren fell quiet for a long while, letting her cry as he stroked her hair gently. _Of all people, Mikasa, I’m glad I met you._ He rested his forehead against her hair and held her closer. He could feel her despair, her fear, her happiness. Everything bright and dark and beautiful. 

He wasn’t sure how long they stood there but he jumped when the quiet was interrupted by the opening of a door. 

“I’m sorry I’m interrupting something,” Levi blinked. 

“Oh,” Eren tried to hide the excitement in his voice when he saw that Levi was carrying something in a brown paper package. “I mean yes you rather are,” he huffed as soon as he could recover his composure. 

“Should I leave?” Mikasa asked as she drew away from Eren. 

“No it’s fine, Ackerman, unless this is too personal of a topic,” Levi looked straight through her as Eren pulled her under one arm and wing to look at what Levi was carrying. 

“Levi tell me what it is,” Eren said with bright eyes, fingering the tape holding the end of the brown paper together. “Ouch!” 

“Play with it again and I’ll do more than slap your hand,” Levi scowled, “Who said it was for you?” 

Mikasa laughed, still warm beneath the curl of Eren’s wing, still happy to be alive and in the presence of her savior… She laughed until she cried again and set Eren to laughing at the sound as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Eren’s happiness at seeing Levi had set her off, perhaps, the transfer of emotions between two closely connected people. 

Or maybe it was just time she laughed. 

Time she finally learned to enjoy the moments of peace that would rarely come after this. 

\--- 

_I CAN’T DIE._ Eren’s wings opened before he hit the ground and he soared up into the sky as the man fired another cord and slashed for him, blade cutting his tricep by mere chance. 

“Damn it… CLOSE THE GATE!” He swung after him. He could almost hear the boy’s heartbeat, listen to it thunder in his ears as lightening struck beside him and cast one of his wings into black relief. _I’m going to kill this kid._ He stretched out his grip for him, oh so close with his momentum. _Just a little more._ But when he caught his foot it was as if he’d been paralyzed. 

Flashes of life inside the walls, panic spilling from his fingertips into the rest of his body like a current of dark emotion, glimpses of a mother’s gentle smile, fear filled his nostrils like the hot scent of urine, then-- nothing. His hand had released him and the boy was soaring through the closing gate. 

_What the hell was that?_

\--- 

“So?” Eren turned once Mikasa had left. Levi was sitting patiently on the bed with one leg crossed over the other, package waiting in his lap. “Is it for me?” 

Levi seemed to hesitate as the Avian walked over, wings spread almost anxiously, “Yes… well I suppose it was but now that I’ve had time to think about it…” _He won’t like this what am I thinking? It’s not even close to what Hanji described. A blanket to keep him warm and I picked something so stupid._ Something reached out and stroked his nerves somehow, a patient presence that soothed him as the boy drew near. _He’s doing that isn’t he?_ He looked up into his bright eyes and, in the quiet of the room, heard his heart skip a beat. 

“Let me see it,” Eren crooned and Levi’s fingers released their white knuckled grip on the paper. It almost seemed to groan in relief as he did, relaxing in Eren’s hands as he picked it up. 

“You… probably won’t like it,” Levi qualified. “It was kind of spur of the moment…” He swallowed as Eren carefully peeled the tape away and pulled the wrappings away. 

“Wow…” Levi watched his green eyes open wide as he smoothed his fingers along the weave, letting the fabric cascade down to touch the stone floor. “This is beautiful,” he was breathless with delight as he looked over the tapestry with fingers and eyes. 

“So you like it.” 

“I do! Is this…” he lowered the cloth down and peered at him curiously. “Are you giving me this as… a token?” 

“A what?” 

“A token? Are you… are you trying to tell me that you… does this have to do… do you really feel… something?” No one had ever attempted to court him before. In all this time in the Roost his kind had never approached him for courtship… but that was what this felt like. 

“Hanji said that you give each other things, I just saw it in the street and… I can’t make something for you.” 

“It’s a pad… you’re telling me you…” Levi watched his awed face for a moment, feeling his heart skip, “I’ve seen something like this before… I think I heard a story about it or something.” 

“The girl at the shop told me she heard a story from her grandmother as well, I wondered what the whole story is,” Levi murmured. 

“Something about a snake that wants to swallow the world,” Eren dismissed as he caught his fingers against the side of Levi’s face. 

“Sounds like a terrifying children’s story,” Levi murmured as their lips met. _So he likes it?_

“Yes,” Eren answered. For now it was enough that he tried, that he was putting in the effort to understand the culture he’d come from. Did it matter in the end? He wasn’t sure when Levi’s hands cradled his head and pulled Eren in to delve his tongue into his mouth. 

What really mattered, at that moment, was how the fabric slipped between his fingers and pooled on Levi’s knees as his shaking hands caught his shoulders, how Levi’s teeth sank into his lip as Eren brushed his thumb over his ear. 

How Levi’s hand shook with breathless excitement when Eren guided it to his wings. 

How, for a moment, they only thing in the world was the feeling of Levi’s lips against his pulse point and his fingers in his pinions. 

Somewhere, deep in his mind, he remembered falling and watching a face set with resolve reach for him. 

The night that changed everything was beginning to surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanting to weave the origin story of both Armin and Eren together with the story of Eren and Levi is a difficult one and I hope I did an okay job. We'll see the effects of this in the next chapter with a wholllle but of Armin and Eren and maybe some smut (EreRi).
> 
> Also there will be more to this story later when Eren fully realizes what's happening (in the next chapter) and of course THANK YOU FOR READING! I LOVE YOU.
> 
> <3


	10. I can just tell what you want.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote another shit chapter because somehow I made a story about harpies boring. I wish I knew how I managed that. This one is a movement towards being less dull. Mentions of the expedition; Eren remembers Levi hunting him down; Erwin is a dick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M WORKING ON A COLLABORATION WITH WINDWOLF0097 THE WRITER OF LOG ON. READ IT [HERE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1021219).
> 
> So I've had the biggest writer's block for this story but I think I finally have it going in a direction again instead of stagnating. Next chapter is a big reveal and the beginning of the expedition hopefully. 
> 
> I know it's shit. I'm so sorry. Writer's block sucks balls.
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: featherlight

"You were created for a greater purpose--" she marched before her assembly, a gleaming warrior Queen with gold inlaid armor that sparkled in the sun. Her breastplate, with its magnificent golden swans interlocked, wings spread against resplendent crimson stones laid into a shield, glinted in the sun and left her viewers breathless. Ymir was a goddess as no others could be, face curtained by a sheer veil of crimson stained white, wings open in their white feathered glory.

"Today will be the day the Avians begin to fulfill that purpose!" The roar of wings and voices echoed as Christa clutched her hand to her chest. She stood beside her Queen, beside her bonded, fear pounding in her chest. The ferocity of Ymir’s voice, the way she stalked like a wounded panther… it was so unlike her.

“We are _guardians_!” Ymir bellowed, the beat of her wings set Christa’s skirts fluttering, made her stomach queasy. “Our last hope moves now!”

_Our last hope for what?_

\---

Armin stood when Jean’s door opened, allowing his Captain through, “Captain Levi!” He saluted.

“What does this guy want?” Jean ruffled his wings. They had been waiting to receive word of their punishment, to find out what would happen in response to their previous actions; a test flight around the city was no small deed.

“I need to have a few words with our combatant,” Levi said unenthusiastically. “Get out.”

Jean looked uncertain, glancing to Armin curiously, but the blonde shrugged and saluted again before waving at Jean as he left.

It was tense for a moment as Levi slid a chair over and sat down, crossing one leg over the other and staring Jean down. He didn’t seem particularly displeased but his demeanor was irritable at best. Jean had never seen him up close, not really, never had the chance to look him over and get a feel for who he was… and now here he was. Humanity’s strongest soldier.

“Take a picture, lasts longer,” Jean folded his legs and arms, frowning in return.

“Ass wipe I didn’t have to get you and your boyfriend out of trouble. So how about you shut the hell up before I have to send one of Erwin’s favorite playthings into a pile of paperwork.”

Silence fell in the room again as Levi pondered his next move. How the hell do you bring up this conversation to a stranger? _I’d like to get into your friend’s pants. Tell me how._ He snorted and Jean jumped.

“I need to know more about your courting rituals and nobody else here has any fucking idea how to help me.”

Jean’s face shifted from incredulity to fear and settled somewhere near slack-jawed awe, tilting his head to the side.

“Why the hell are you looking at me like that? Are you going to tell me or not?”

“W-What do you want to know?” Jean ruffled his hair and looked off to the side. “Wait! Why do you want to know? Is it-- you’re not talking about that green-feathered freak are you?”

Levi’s eyes flickered and he leaned forward, lacing his fingers together, “Are you going to answer me or not? Last chance.”

“I don’t know how much I can help you! He doesn’t respond to courtship very well and… I mean I’m almost convinced he didn’t grow up with us… they found him when he was 10 and he’s been--”

“Did you say _found_?”

\---

Armin had counted down the seconds until this moment, until he could speak to the boy he barely knew.

He’d suspected back then, had found him in his cell in order to ask, had sought him out to confirm his fears and suspicions that had been founded in the moment he’d seen Eren in the dining hall.

Unfortunately, since then, Eren’s time had been monopolized and so had his own. He never could bring it up with others around; fearing that he would be found out… that one of them would be punished for running or for helping someone run.

“Hi,” Armin found Petra sitting with a book in Eren’s room.

“Armin, how are you?” Petra smiled as she stood to greet him.

“He’s sleeping?” Armin asked curiously.

“Yeah I found him sleeping curled up with the Captain, he left to… oh I guess that’s why you’re here…” She looked thoughtful. “Are you here to talk to him?”

“Nah," Armin waved her off. "But you don't have to stay, I'll wait here with him."

"Sure, I've got to go and oversee the preparations for the expedition anyway," she saluted and walked out of the room.

Armin sighed, sitting in the chair by the Avian's bedside and stretching his long legs out before him. This was the first time in a long while that he had been allowed to think, to ponder the circumstances surrounding their current predicament...

To think about Eren.

Eren and everything he'd changed. Eren and his wings. Eren and his meaning. Hybrid. Unique. Curious.

He wondered if he remembered their friendship, if the actions from that day resonated as strongly with him as they did with Armin.

Eren had been the reason he'd joined the military. Had inspired him to try and see where he'd come from, to understand the world beyond the walls, to protect those that couldn't protect themselves.

Though his view on the military had soured slightly over the years he had seen within them kindness and mercy as well... Especially in his Captain.

Eren stirred, turquoise eyes sliding open and settling on Armin's form blearily, "I know you..."

"Hey... Long time no see," Armin reached out, as if to touch him, but hesitated.

"Mikasa came and talked to me," he caught Armin's fingers as he sat up, stretching his wings up and out and shivering them.

"Did she?"

"Apparently when I was a kid I... saved her..." He murmured. "And then when I..."

"What's this?" Armin pulled at the blanket Eren had bundled in his arms and around his body.

"Levi gave it to me!" He perked up and tugged it out to show him. "I only have a few pads back home but now I have one that nobody else has! It's pretty right?"

Armin questioned his friend's esthetic taste as he looked over the scene on the blanket, too violent for his own preferences, "It's very nice."

"It's a fairy tale my kind tells, I remember hearing it when I was little," Eren looked more adorable than Armin remembered him, wings fluffed and open and _relaxed_ in a way he hadn't seen from either of the Avians.

"Eren what... Exactly does his blanket mean?"

"It's a courting blanket… I think?” Eren hesitated.

“He gave you a blanket so he could court you?” Armin tilted his head. “That doesn’t sound like him…”

“Well I… we give each other blankets and things to show that we care and… he can’t give me a pad made of his own down so I…” Eren ran the fabric between his fingers lovingly. “I guess I just assumed.”

“Eren do you remember how you left?” Armin blurted, too curious to let it rest any longer.

“How I--” his eyes flickered and he looked away. “How I left?”

“I think Mikasa’s right, you used to live here… you used to be a human.”

Eren’s confusion was plain as he thumbed his finger against the edge of his blanket, brows knitted in concentration. He had thought something similar; about how familiar Armin had seemed in his cell that first day… how easy it was for him to listen.

“Did I?” He murmured. “I… I’m sorry Armin I don’t remember much before I came to the Roost.”

“We… we were friends I think! You lived with your dad in the city and… I helped you escape! You ran and Captain Levi almost caught y--” his voice faltered. _Do they know? That they’re the same people from that night?_

“Levi?” The name caught his attention again. Flickers of firelight and rain-soaked streets flashed in front of his eyes and his fingers clenched into his blanket.

 _Was I here, inside the walls?_ He wondered and his mind wandered to Levi again. He had given him this blanket, had kissed him, had treated him so kindly… and yet…

He could see those same grey eyes staring down at him, blades glinting in the clouded night, feel the graze of his fingers as he tried to catch him; tried to keep him from leaving… tried to kill him.

“You…” Eren looked up at him with parted lips.

Glimpses of days spent laying in the grass curled into his mind, letting a boy with blonde hair read to him from a heavy book in his lap, laughing as they cuddled beneath a blanket in the cold of a winter day… tears that glistened on his cheeks as they ran; that dropped onto Eren’s hand in the dark of the night like rain.

Armin was watching him when his eyes focused once more, reaching out to touch the tears dripping down his face. “Eren?” Armin murmured and cradled his cheek in his hand.

 _Why did I forget?_ He let his friend curl his arms around him, nestled his face against his chest, tried to fight down the pain in his heart. _What happened when I left? Why did I… why was I here?_

_What does any of this even mean?_

\---

“On the next expedition we need to be careful to organize the formation around our Avians,” Erwin leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk.

“You know Levi won’t like that,” Hanji pointed out and earned a scoff.

“He’s too busy wooing our resident monster to deal with the dirt on my boots,” he pursed his lips.

“You sound jealous,” Hanji nearly giggled.

“He’s only doing it until we can find out what the boy is and why they let him stay here… why they would sacrifice a squad to take him back; knowing they wouldn’t return,” Erwin hid his mouth behind his hand; gaze dark.

“Not everybody thinks like you do, Erwin,” Mike added and earned a ‘hmph’.

“Levi wants to get inside the damned mountain, he thinks that boy can get him in there… perhaps it would be useful to try…”

“You wouldn’t risk him being caught would you?” The other man picked at his fingernails intently.

“He won’t get caught. I’m not even sure it’s possible… but the sooner he gets into that boy’s pants the better off we’ll all be. Let’s just hope Levi’s as good as he thinks he is.”

“He’s not a sexual beast, you know, he’s just a twerp,” Mike chuckled and lit a cigarette.

“And you know from experience?” Erwin responded, arching an eyebrow.

“I’m sure you do.”

“I doubt the kid would notice anyway, he’s too starstruck to care, and he’s our key into the Avians’ nest. It’s about time we wiped them off this Earth,” Erwin stood and walked to the window. “Then humanity won’t have to hide behind walls and guns anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still sorry it's shit. I can't believe you made it down here without puking.
> 
> Chapter title from "What You Know" by Two Door Cinema Club.


	11. Illusion.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erwin asked for a reprieve. Eren determines his fate. Ymir reveals the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY! It has been a million and one years and for that I apologize. I had hoped this chapter would be longer but I felt that explaining the entire story in this chapter would be too complicated so your fates have determined that you wait until next week! :) As always I am on tumblr as **thingsishouldntbedoing** and I'm tracking **fic: featherlight**.

“Erwin! You can’t be stupid enough to think this is going to go over! I had a shred of goddamned respect for you left and here you are-- begging for a _reprieve?_ ” Niles Dawk was a man of nauseating self importance, as if he alone could sway the High Commander to keep the captured Avians and kill them.  
  
“All I need, General Zackly, all I need is one expedition with them,” Erwin ignored his comment, turning to the bearded Generalissimo at their center. He was an imposing man to say the least, a bear of a human with sharp eyes and a beard his fingers worked at impassively as he looked over his subordinates.

“What do you plan to do, then?” Zackly entertained Erwin’s request, leaning back in his chair. “You called this meeting in my office, explain.”  
  
“General! You can’t be thinking to--”  
  
“Dawk! Do not speak out of turn or you will be _excused_ from this meeting,” Zackly silenced him against the snort of the fourth participant. Commander Dot Pixis seemed to be having no part in the discussion, sitting on a couch against the left wall of the room with his hands folded in his lap.  
  
“I plan on using them to find the Avian homeland,” Erwin explained. “Their electromagnetic guidance means that they can find their way home, almost like pigeons.”  
  
“A bit of a degrading comparison if you ask me,” Pixis mused.  
  
“Well it’s the best I have,” Erwin frowned. “We could strike at the heart of their colony, learn what they number and what their weaponry is like outside of the strike teams we've seen in the past. See their technology... Learn how to wipe them out."

Zackly grew pensive, looking Erwin over for a long moment. The Scouting Legion commander remained unshakeable even under the gaze of his superior. His face, hard and determined, held proud by a stiff spine and broad shoulders, would never have wavered even in the face of an unforeseeable enemy. 

The Western sun beat in through the window, its beams bright and hot as it gripped their uniform jackets and clawed at the already sweltering heat of the office, inducing droplets of sweat to form on the foreheads of those present, trickling softly down the curves of the brightest minds in the military. The shadows of the room were stark in contrast to the resolute shafts of light piercing the floors and walls, shifting ever so slightly as the sun began to sink behind the walls of the city, ticking away the excruciating minutes until a decision was made.

Erwin swallowed, adam’s apple bobbing against the collar of his shirt, and he almost prayed to whatever deity that would listen-- anything to please _please_ give him this chance. Just a chance.  
  
“One chance,” Zackly lifted a hand. “You have one chance. If they betray us it will be your head on the block, you understand?”  
  
Erwin saluted fiercely, hand thumping against his chest like a bass drum, “Yessir.”  
  
“You will prepare an expedition beyond the walls with your _captives_. You will attempt to gain access to the mountain and if you cannot you will account for their numbers in order to make a movement into their territory possible. If you fail at both these objectives you and your captives will be executed. If the Avians do not return with you… Saints rest your soul.”

* * *

Everything he’d learned about Eren weighed heavily on his mind as Levi started the long walk back to the Avian’s holding room. Jean had, with some reluctance, explained so much in what little information Levi could coax out of him.

Eren had lived among them. Had been one of them. A human that walked freely inside the walls with his father. He hadn’t known any differently. Likely hadn’t understood why he’d been subjected to the torture of bearing wings he hadn’t asked for.

_Should a hybrid have wings? I am not sure of the physiology of an Avian half-breed._ He stopped outside the door, scratching his nails over the five o’clock shadow he wished he had a knife to clean. _I hadn’t thought about that before…_  
  
He considered his next option: going to see Hanji and asking her directly about her opinions but that would mean revealing Eren’s secret. Erwin’s plan hinged on Eren trusting him. On Eren believing what he said and if he told someone else what had been told to him in confidence… in a mutual understanding of shared affection… there would be no doubt in Eren’s mind that he had been wrong about Levi. And all the things Levi swore he didn’t believe would mean nothing in the long run.

Was the reason he was afraid of hurting Eren because even _he_ was starting to believe his words. Maybe he was starting to think of this boy as something more than just a tool to win a stalemate war. Maybe it was true that the more you said something the more you believed it.

_Falling for the enemy is the last thing you should do._ A sensible voice said from somewhere in the back of his mind.

But Eren’s delighted smile when he opened the door washed that away.

How could this boy be his _enemy?_

“You’ve come back! Just in time, too. Mikasa and Armin brought me dinner!” Levi couldn’t stop the way his heart leapt to see the contented smile on his face, to see the way his feathers fluffed with pleasure at being surrounded by friends.   
  
“I should probably go see to Jean,” Armin rose, eyes on his Captain.   
  
“Perhaps he’d like dinner as well?” Levi suggested with the quirk of an eyebrow.

“Certainly,” Armin nodded, saluting.  
  
“Bye! Thank you for coming to see me, Armin,” Eren caught his hand gently. “Please come back?”  
  
“Of course. I’m not going anywhere,” Armin squeezed. “Mikasa do you--”  
  
“Yes I’ll come,” she nodded, hugging Eren in farewell. “I’ll come visit you tomorrow?”  
  
“Whenever you want,” Eren’s ocean eyes softened.   
  
“They seem like good friends,” Levi watched the two retreat, folding his arms over his chest.  
  
“I think they are,” Eren smiled warmly. “Will you sit? I heard you were speaking with Jean.”  
  
“Here I thought you wouldn’t be on a first name basis with him,” Levi hummed.   
  
“He told you we weren’t friends, then.”  
  
“Something like that.”  
  
For a long moment it was quiet between them. The silence was comfortable, this time, as Levi pulled his jacket off and hung it up. It was nice to have an odd moment of peace between them. Levi had questions in mind, things he knew could be answered by the angelic being in the room with him, but the thought of ruining his good mood almost pained him. Eren hadn’t shown much happiness since he’d been there. He hadn’t seemed comfortable in the slightest and yet now he was smiling and relaxed, eating more healthily he had since Levi had seen him in the dungeons all those long days ago.

“What do you want to ask?” Eren looked over.  
  
“I’m sorry?”  
  
“You’re watching me. That always means you’re going to ask me something.”  
  
“I was just thinking is all. Not everything is about you, featherbrain.”  
  
“So you weren’t going to ask me anything?” Eren blinked as Levi sat down beside him.  
  
“I have a lot of things to ask you but I don’t know where to start,” Levi covered his mouth with his hand, rubbing his chin almost anxiously. Eren watched with soft eyes, reaching out to touch his shoulder in what Levi would later realize was the first time the Avian had initiated contact with him. 

“It’s okay, I understand.”  
  
“We’re going on an expedition soon, you and Jean will be going with us,” Levi changed the subject. “Erwin told me today that it was confirmed.”  
  
“And expedition, huh?” Eren murmured. “It will be nice to be outside these forsaken walls again I suppose.”  
  
“Indeed, but he wants you to guide us to the Roost,” he watched Eren’s face sink into solemnity, reaching out to brush hairs from his brow. “Just to look.”  
  
“Looking is impossible. This is suicide!” Eren told him. “Don’t you realize that going near our mountain is a declaration of war?!”  
  
“I follow orders. Erwin’s aware of what’s happening and the potential for danger.” _I hope._

“Have you spoken to _Jean_? He isn’t gonna like this! He’s the Captain of the Royal Guard he’s… he’ll tell them.”  
  
“I doubt that.”  
  
“How? The humans killed his bonded!”  
  
“He’s found someone else to amuse him.”  
  
“Wh-- you mean Armin?” Brows knitted deep between ocean eyes, knuckles blanching on the blankets beneath him. Worry played on his lips and made a fool of the smile that had been replaced there. 

“They’re becoming friends. Armin seems to have a calming effect on you Avians,” Levi caught the side of his face. “This is dangerous but it is our job. We are at war.”  
  
“I can’t let you die. Not because of some insane man’s decision,” Eren told him.

_Just what Erwin wanted._ His heart pulled at the intensity of the Avian’s gaze, leaning forward, drawn in by the way Eren looked at him. _Is it what I want?_   
  
“What do we do?” Eren asked just before their lips met and for the first time he returned the kiss-- really returned it. He clutched his fingers tightly into Levi’s hair and pulled their mouths heatedly together. Lips crashed and tongues wove a story of a thousand lies. A thousand lies that led to only one truth: that they were inescapably bound.

A truth that bound them to a fate they didn’t yet understand, one Levi didn’t want to understand with Eren’s hands fumbling at the buttons of his shirt and his own fingers lacing through the soft barbs of emerald feathers. A fate that they were barrelling towards even as Eren’s emotions washed over him, the jumbled mess of desire and fear and affection that told Levi this was something _real._  

Eren was real for him. What Eren felt was _real_ and bright and beautiful. Things Levi himself hadn’t felt perhaps ever, things he now felt as secondary waves that flooded him with every burning feeling that passed through Eren’s nervous system.

The connection made him want _more_. It made him greedy for every feeling Eren could conjure for him because everything about Eren was mingling and merging with who he was. Everything Eren felt was too much and too little, overwhelming and ebbing, dark and bright and _devastating._ He was held suspended in a flood, barely able to cling desperately to the source of everything.

And when Eren’s mouth left his. When the Avian’s soft lips found Levi’s pulse point and his tongue pressed against his heartbeat the spike of pleasure Levi received from such a simple act was magnified by the devious ache that drove through him through Eren’s open connection.

“Make love with me,” Eren said. Or maybe he didn’t. Levi wasn’t sure anymore where he ended and Eren began as the Avian cradled his head and kissed him sweetly, tasted his mouth and nipped his lips. He wasn’t sure when words had turned to thoughts or when thoughts had become fluid passages that no longer required words.

“Yes,” Levi was certain he spoke that aloud.

* * *

“The Serpent! I want answers!” Ymir had been expecting her. Had sensed her anger from the distance. “What is going on? Enough of this cryptic nonsense. What is happening that will disturb our people?”

She turned to face her bonded, scratching at her cheek with a faded smile. “You seem so adamant. It’s cute when you’re bossy.”  
  
“ _Ymir_.”  
  
“This life… is just an illusion,” Ymir murmured.   
  
“What?”  
  
“Thousands of years ago, before humans knew what we were, there was a war. It was a disaster. We laid waste to thousands of our own kind and depleted our numbers severely. All over nothing. Because of that we were cast down.”  
  
“Cast down?”  
  
“Once we were not called Avians; but _Valkyr_.”


End file.
